Second Contact
by NovaTheBro
Summary: Humans - once thought of themselves as the loneliest race in existence, due to the fact that there seemed to be no other sentient races out there in the universe.. that is, until Alena and a friend travel somewhere unexpected. Now they have to deal with a paranoid Princess about to go berzerk, an annoying government, and a Chaos God trying to finish what he started... Great.
1. Royal Conversations (Prologue)

Princess Luna sat at the table that was currently set up in the gardens with Celestia, enjoying a bit of afternoon tea with her sister... Or at least, that's what she would like to be doing, instead of dealing with a situation that was brought about by her older sister who was now stained with tea, thanks to Luna's spectacular spit take, courtesy of Celestia.

"May I be so bold as to ask you, sister - what the blueberry buck do you mean you 'plan to have Discord reformed'? Do you not remember the torment that ponies and other races endured when he was still in power? Do you not remember the pain, the anguish, the torn families, and hardship that befell upon everyone? Have you lost that last shred of sanity you were holding onto so dearly since banishing me to the moon!? DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WILL BRING UPON EQUESTRIA IF YOU ARE TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH YOUR PLAN!?"

Celestia was pretty sure that she nearly lost her hearing after that last statement; though Luna did have a point about her plan being a long shot. Discord was pretty dangerous, and freeing him for even a second is an insane idea - Equestria doesn't need him to be in power again for things to go terribly wrong. If Discord got even a fraction of his powers back, he would be able to wreak havoc in not only Equestria, but the rest of the universe, and maybe others as well. Still, the pros outweighed the cons, and Celestia did not budge on her position.

"Luna, you know as well as I do, that if Discord is successfully reformed, he could prove to be a very useful ally in times of need. The benefits far outweigh the negatives if we pull this off."

Luna snorted, "Yes, if, dear sister. That is a very big 'if' that you are setting your sights on. Even if he is 'reformed', what's to stop him from biding his time, and plan a coup that not even you could fend off? What if he manages to fool everyone and topple everything that we spent ages building up? This very idea is foolish, and should just be disregarded. We finally got Discord into a permanent prison, let's keep it that way."

Celestia sighed, "Alright, if you think that it's too risky, then I will leave the Elements of Harmony with The Bearers during the time that is taken to reform Discord. They are to put him back into his statue should he become too much to handle."

Luna gave her sister a look that could only be interpreted as 'seriously?' "While I do not agree to this happening at all, I cannot argue with giving the Elements to The Bearers and have the girls wear them for the duration of his reform just in case. You win, although if this backfires, I have full right to say 'I told you so.'" Luna punctuated her comment by sticking out her tongue, and mirthfully trotting away, back to her bedroom.

Celestia sighed inwardly, "Though you may not agree Luna, the only thing more dangerous than Discord, would be a human. Faust only knows what would happen if they were to come back..."


	2. Explanations and Best Friends

Alena sat on the bus, on her way home from the mall, as she entertained herself with her phone. Some people stared at her in wonder, as it wasn't that common for people to be born with pure white hair and red eyes. As she sat there, ignoring all the stares, Alena watched an episode of her favorite show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It was an instant favorite of hers from practically the first minute of watching. The art and animation style, the writing, strong and endearing characters; the show as a whole just screamed awesome the minute she saw it, and wanted to see the whole series through.

The episode was just about to get to the good part, when she half-heard her stop was up next. Alena shot up and pushed the stop request button, grabbed her stuff, got off the bus, and walked down the street to her house. It was convenient that there was a bus stop nearly at her front door. As she opened the door, Alena noticed that there was another pair of shoes in the entrance hall; her mother was home, which was a rare occurrence.

"Hey, mom, I'm home," Alena called. There was a short silence before her mother shouted back a warm welcome.

Julia, Alena's mother, stepped out of her home office and walked over to the entrance hall, where Alena still stood. Seconds ticked by, before Alena ran towards her mother and gave her a crushing hug.

"Holy crap it's so good to see you! Almost thought that the board might've kidnapped you," Alena jokingly said.

"Ha ha, no, the board didn't kidnap me; I've just had to oversee a few new rigs being built, and make sure everything was up to code with how they ran. I may be the CEO, but that doesn't mean I want to sit on my ass all day and do nothing but stare at a computer screen all day until a crisis happens."

Alena let go of her mom and looked at her for a moment; her auburn hair starkly contrasting against Alena's own snowy white hair; Julia's hazel eyes capturing you in a sea of comfort, versus Alena's fiery red eyes. Both Alena and her mother were at the same height, around five feet three inches, which made them fairly short compared to the average person, though that also meant that Alena got a massive boost in adorableness when it came to being eyed by both guys and some girls. Where Julia's chest was a pair of soft pillows at a size of 36C, Alena's own were only a mediocre 27B, which weren't big, but not incredibly small either.

"You know," Alena began, catching Julia's attention, "It's times like this that I really miss dad. He's been gone for years, and no one seems to have any idea where he went; it's like he just disappeared out of thin air one day, without leaving so much as a note," Julia stiffened at Alena's comment, which was picked up on immediately. "Mom, dad _did_ leave a note before he disappeared, _didn't he_?"

Julia hung her head slightly, and with a sigh, she resigned. "Yes, he did leave a note, specifically for you. There were instructions though that it wasn't to be given to you until you were old enough. The note is at the lab, in his safe." Alena quirked a brow, "The way things are going with this, it seems that there is a lot more going on than what you are telling me, and what is known to the public. I'm not going to let this out, but you need to tell me exactly what's been going on." Alena's mom opened her mouth, "From the beginning, mom," and snapped it shut.

Julia motioned for Alena to follow her into the family room, "Come and sit, this is going to take a while..." Alena walked over to the couch that her mother had sat upon, and took a seat beside her. "Now," she continued, "I'm going to start from the beginning..."

* * *

The explanation took a while, but through it all, Alena just didn't know what to think; all this time, she was a walking goldmine for geneticists and astrophysicists alike. The geneticists she could understand, because her genes were apparently very different than a normal human's, but no one knew why. According to a theory by Alena's father, there seemed to be a rip in space right under their house, and it was spilling out this weird energy which slowly altered Alena's genes, and by extension, her mother's. The changes to her genetics had a few obvious signs: whenever she got really mad, Alena's eyes would change from red to a brilliant blue, and she would inexplicably calm down after a few moments; when she was younger, Alena would accidentally move things with thaumic energy - or as Julia had said, magic. There were a few times that Alena had apparently sat on the ceiling, and just walked right into a wall, only to phase through it.

John, Alena's father, was a physicist working at a very high tech lab, and had discovered the energy that was present in the house after Alena had been conceived, when things randomly moved around the house while they weren't being watched as if they were being teleported; the energy was confirmed after John had brought some equipment to the house and got some readings of it. The only conclusion that he and his co-workers could come up with was that there was a rip in space right below their house. When he had replicated the energy, and had built some things that could levitate objects without needing to worry about weight, the government had stepped in and demanded to know where he had found the energy; when John refused to tell them, they renditioned him on the grounds that he could have been planning to take out the government with weapons that utilized the energy he had discovered.

Alena's head reeled as the new information rattled around in her brain; her father was treated like a terrorist, she could use magic, and she was a treasure trove of information for geneticists that would kill to get their hands on her dna. She didn't know what to do about all this information, and needed someone to take her mind off all of this mess, someone she could just be herself with, needed a best friend. Alena brought her head up and looked at her mother, "I'm going to invite Placid over, I need someone to take my mind off of all of this." Julia looked confused, "Placid? Who's that?" Alena facepalmed at her mother's words, "Right, forgot to tell you, Serenity legally changed her first name to Placidia a few weeks ago, said it fits her better and still means the same thing."

Julia smiled, until she looked at her phone - there was a text that asked her to come out to one of the rigs, there was an accident that needed her oversight. She got up and rustled Alena's hair, "Sure, she can come over; and, listen, there was an incident at one of the rigs, I need to go oversee some things - I won't be back for a few days. Just make sure the house doesn't burn down and I'll be happy." Alena got up as her mother left the room and got her shoes on while she grabbed her purse and coat, "Stay safe, sweetie. There's plenty of food in the freezer and fridge, there shouldn't be any bills coming in but you never know." Julia gave Alena a kiss on the cheek before she headed out the door, "Love you, I'll be back in a few days." The door closed, and just like that, Alena was on her own. The house felt lonely, as if it was attempting to oppress her... it was working.

Alena dashed over to the table in the hallway and picked up the phone; she dialed the only number she could think of, Placidia's cellphone. The other end picked up, and Alena's ear was assaulted with the sound of an angelic voice, like the light of day at the end of a dark and dreary tunnel; the voice belonged to the one person that Alena could truly call a best friend throughout all the trouble she had in her life at school and elsewhere - Placidia. Maybe her father was right, that they were made for each other...

Alena was shaken out of her thoughts when the voice called for her attention, _"Hello? Alena are you there? I know it was you that called me, unless you changed your number and someone else got it. I doubt it though."_

Alena quickly put the phone back to her ear, unaware that she had taken it away from there in the first place, "Oh sorry, I was just lost in thought. Listen, do you think you could come over and hang out for a couple days?"

There was a slight pause, _"Wait, a couple days, like staying the night over? Sure, I could do that, I got nothing to do over here anyway. Just let me get some things and I'll be on my way. See you in a few minutes."_

One thing that was cool, according to the two of them, was that their houses were just down the street from each other's. Both of their parents thought it was convenient as well, as they could get together and discuss what kind of trouble their kids have gotten into and such. As Placidia was busy getting ready to go have a sleepover, Alena ran to her bedroom and promptly ran into the family room with her consoles, which she plugged into the TV, and turned on the home theatre system. She missed gaming with her dad late at night, staying up past her bedtime just gaming the night away with him while Julia just sat on the couch and enjoyed seeing the two of them getting along so well.

Just soon after the last console was plugged in, there was a knock at the door, though given the rhythm of the knock it could only be one person. Alena got up and walked over to the door to open it. The person on the other side of it was a walking example of 'cute beyond belief'. Placidia's long light blue hair was done up in a ponytail, she was just a bit taller than Alena, and was a bit bustier than Julia - at a staggering 30 D pair of knockers. Placid had her trademark grey hoodie on with a pair of black yoga pants; Alena had on a black shirt with a picture of Pandora and a pair of slim fit dark navy jeans. Lost in thought, Alena didn't realize that she was staring into Placidia's grey eyes.

"Hey, Alena, you know you're staring into my eyes, right?" Placidia giggled as her comment snapped Alena out of her trance, "Oh, sorry, didn't realize I was staring; come inside." Placidia and Alena ventured through the hall and into the family room, where a multitude of consoles sat in front of the TV, the one turned on being the Xbox 360, a game of Halo 3 already in and running. "I was hoping for a rematch so I could kick your ass again," Alena smiled as she picked up first player's controller, forcing Placidia to be second. Placid said nothing, opting to stick her tongue out at Alena's comment.

"I take that as a challenge, and I have only one comeback: challenge accepted."


	3. A Jump Through Space

The tension in the room was so thick, you'd need a lightsaber to cut through it; two people were locked in a serious battle of wits, skill, and cunning. Each person giving it their all, and still broke even with the score... until Alena found the needler.

"Don't you DARE use that, we agreed to never use that unless we really wanted to start a war!" Alena's only response to Placidia's comment was sticking out her tongue, followed by rapidly firing an assload of pink projectiles of doom into Placidia's character while flying overhead with the man-cannon at her base. Valhalla was Alena's favorite map in the entire Halo series, mostly because of the man-cannons at the base, and all of the sniping spots there were in the game. The announcer declared 'game over' after Alena's traitorous use of the needler, or as Placidia calls it, 'the pussiest pink pistol in existence.' Placid was close to throwing the controller at the TV, but thought against it - she really couldn't afford to replace the TV... again.

Placidia took a few deep breaths as Alena changed the game, "Hey, how bout some All-Stars Battle Royale?" Placid rapidly shook her head, "All you do in that game is play Issac and continuously lay down mines right before I hit the ground, and then hit me with your level 2 super. Hell, _I_ tried playing Issac to counter you, and all we did was use our super on each other at the same time and couldn't get a kill in. The only time I do win is if I play Kratos, and you practically shout at full lung capacity because you hate how broken he is! So no, I won't play that game with you. How about some Dead or Alive 5?"

Alena's eyes glazed over as the thought of playing one of the best fighting games with _the best_ jiggle physics played through her mind; Placid had to snap her out of it by picking up the game case, and placing it on her head, balancing the case on its corner. Surprisingly, the case stood stock still. The case fell when Alena snapped out of her thoughts, which made Placid snicker.

"Enjoy your fantasies?" Alena replied by socking her friend on the arm, "Can it, you! And yes, yes I was; Ayane cutest fighting character of 2015."

Placidia flicked Alena's nose gently, "You're just saying that because you can easily cosplay her; that, and she's also a cheap character, though not as cheap as Zack or Jan Lee."

"Awww, someone's butthurt because I'm actually good at this game."

Placid's eyes roared with a fire within, "You take that back, buttwipe!" Alena giggled as she scooted closer to Placidia, and put her face right up to her ear, as she whispered, "Come on and make me, then." Placid could feel Alena's hot breath on her ear, which made her shudder for a moment before she picked up the controller, and got a determined look on her face, "Oh, I'll make you take it back, and then some."

The truth was though, that Placidia was still a little flustered from Alena's little stunt, and wasn't really sure that she could win. There was really only one way to win against Alena in this game, and that was to wait for her to pick her fighter before picking her own. Thing is, Alena was also waiting for Placid to pick hers as well. Placid just resigned to her fate and picked Marie Rose, while Alena picked Hitomi. The only saving grace for Placidia was that Alena picked second, so Placid got to pick the map; she just pressed the Y button on random, which Alena picked up on, since she knew the difference between the sounds when the map is picked.

"You just can't handle being in _The Danger Zone_ , can you?" Placid just blew a raspberry at Alena before the match loaded. Hitomi came onto the screen in a school swimsuit. Placid just looked at Alena as if to say 'Really?' Alena replied to Placid's unsaid comment, "You can't really say much, cause you're as much of a perv as I am." Right then, Marie Rose came on with her gym uniform on, which Alena pointed to, "Told ya so." The two turned towards the screen, and began pummeling each other into the ground, though it was more Alena doing the pummeling, and Placidia going into the ground. This went on for a few rounds, until Placidia got the hang of the game and started getting good at it. Then they started breaking even with each other... Then Placidia picked Ayane, and things went to hell. The two got seriously into their friendly rivalry, and ended up gaming the whole day away playing Dead or Alive, and then when Placidia passed out on the floor, Alena played a bit of story mode before she called it a night.

Placid was woken up from her sleep by Alena, and the two got ready for bed; Placid snuggled into bed with nothing on, and Alena jumped in with just an oversized white t-shirt. Placid was already fast asleep, snoring lightly, sounding really cute; Alena noticed that Placid took both pillows, so she just opted to snuggle up close and use Placid's chest as a pair of pillows. The two were comfortable with enough with each other that those kinds of things didn't bother them. Getting dared to make out by drunk guys at a graduation party may or may not have had anything to do with it.

* * *

It was a beautiful morning, as the sun shone through the window in the bedroom. Alena got up and stretched, as she scratched an itch that had been bothering her. As she gathered her clothes and brought them to the bathroom before she got into the shower, Alena went over to the family room and turned on the home theatre system, and also turned on the hallway speakers. She turned on her iPod, and selected a random song in her library, which happened to be Meaning of Life by Vinyl Scratch. The song blasted throughout the house, and a satisfied Alena went into the bathroom to take a shower, while Placidia stirred awake from the loud wubs.

Strangely, when Alena turned on the shower, there was no water. There was power, but no water, and she was _damn_ sure her mother paid the utility bill. Alena just shrugged and used some deodorant as she got dressed and brushed her teeth; she wasn't going to let the water issue affect her having clean teeth in the morning. Placid knocked on the bathroom door, "Sorry, I'm still in here, gotta wait." The only problem with Alena's house, was that there was only one bathroom , though it wasn't really a problem when it was just her. Soon as Alena left the bathroom, Placid rushed in and slammed the door, before she did her business. leaving Alena to her own devices.

With nothing else to do, Alena headed to the kitchen and got out a loaf of bread, some cheese slices, peanut butter, and a container of margarine, along with a frying pan. Moments later, there were two grilled cheese sandwiches with peanut butter, a glass of chocolate milk for Alena, and a glass of orange juice for Placid. Placidia was in the kitchen a couple of minutes later, with nothing on but a Metallica t-shirt and underpants, which were striped with blue and white. All Alena did was give her a flat stare.

"I'll get dressed after I eat, don't get your titties in a twist. Speaking of which, how did you sleep last night?" Alena had to take a second and stop chewing her food before she choked, "I slept fine, though I would've slept even better if someone wasn't doing her best impression of a chainsaw."

Placid just rolled her eyes, "Just admit it, you find it cute that I sleep with nothing on, sprawl out all over the bed, and snore like a chorus of chainsaws."

"Actually, you snoring like a chorus of chainsaws makes you about as cute as a hairless Sphynx cat."

The two of them went back and forth at each other for quite a while, before they had decided to settle things the old fashioned way: a game of Halo 3, this time with the weapons set to human only, score to unlimited, and timer to one hour.

* * *

Twilight woke up pretty early this morning, though for her she was right on time. Spike was still fast asleep in his basket, comic hanging from his claw; Twilight made a mental note to get him a proper bed, as he was starting to get a little bigger, thanks to working things out to get Spike his own private hoard and keeping it regulated. Twilight hummed to herself as she levitated a brush and got rid of her bedhead and brushed her coat, the song being hummed was Morning in Ponyville, which woke Spike up nearly instantly.

"Not that song, anything but that _one_ song! You've sung it three times this month, and hummed it _daily!_ Please, for the love of you, stop humming that annoyingly catchy song!" Spike groaned as Twilight ignored his complaints, and so he grabbed the pillow and wrapped it around his head to cover his ears. Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

Twilight ignored Spike's protests about the song she was humming, and went downstairs into the kitchen to grab something to eat before she went out into the market to pick up some groceries and a few new books for the library; she only hoped that some of the salesponies would stop giving her things at heavily discounted prices or for free. Just because she ascended into being an Alicorn, doesn't mean she should suddenly be treated any differently. She had secretly wished that Celestia hadn't coronated her into being a princess, so that she could return to being a normal pony, instead of being worshipped like a ruler of Equestria.

As she walked to the market, Twilight began to hear sounds... like little popping noises. Curious, she followed her ears, until eventually she came upon a house in Ponyville that wasn't there before. It definitely wasn't like any of the other houses, as it seemed to be made of small bricks, with what looked like a sort of cement that was similar to what the walls of the other houses were made of. The windows had glass in them, and the roof looked very different from the rest of the houses in town. Even without the windows open, Twilight could hear the sounds coming from within the house, which meant that whatever was making those noises, was pretty loud.

Twilight looked around the house, and had found two beings inside that looked similar to Diamond Dogs, but they only had hair on the top of their heads, and were wearing clothes. They looked as if they were playing with something in their hands, but they were looking at something that was just out of her view. Curious, Twilight wanted to get a better look, but the only way to do so, was to go inside. Steeling her resolve, Twilight brought her hoof up to the door, and knocked.

* * *

Placid and Alena were well into their match, when there was a knock at the door. Alena paused the game and put down her controller, "I'm gonna go see who it is."

Placidia couldn't help but comment, "Come on, no one from our neighborhood knocks on the door, they all use the doorbell. Besides, you know that I'm the one who knocks." Alena groaned and headed for the front door. She was expecting to see another person on the other side of the door, but instead what she got, was Princess Twilight Sparkle.

"Hello, my name is Twilight Sparkle. Excuse me for possibly being rude, but what are you?"

Alena turned behind her and called out, "Uh, Placid, I think we have a problem..."

Placidia called back, "What is it, creditors?"

"No, it's not creditors. I don't think we're in Philly anymore."

"How so?"

Alena put her face into her hand, "Just come and ask little miss Sparkle over here yourself."

The only comment after a few seconds of silence came from Placid, "What."


	4. Must We Really Go There?

"What."

Alena couldn't believe what was going on right now, and apparently, neither could Placidia. "Seriously, I tell you something as earth-shattering as us being in another universe, and all you can say to that, is "What?" Where's your tact?"

Placid left the family room to see exactly what Alena was talking about, mostly because she didn't believe her at the moment. When she got to the door however, her comments died in her throat, as she beheld Twilight in all her pony-ness. Placidia couldn't contain her excitement when she saw Twilight, and promptly ran over Alena to get to her. Placid grabbed Twilight in a hug and wasn't letting go anytime soon. "Oooooh, you're just soooo cuuuuuuute!" She moved back and took a look at Twilight, "Awww, you've got wings! They're so adorable!"

Alena smiled awkwardly, "I'm sorry about my friend here, she just can't contain herself when she's near things that are insanely cute."

Twilight blushed at the implied compliment, "Thank you. It's just a relief to find someone that doesn't worship the ground I trot upon and kiss my hooves all the time. You wouldn't believe all the ponies and other people that treat me like some kind of goddess just because I've ascended into Alicornhood. It's starting to get annoying. Anyway, back to my original question, what are you two?"

Alena had read enough fanfics to know exactly what to do in this kind of situation; just because she's a pony, and that she's a princess, doesn't mean that she has to pull punches and hide things from her when explaining the situation. "Well, we're called humans, my name is Alena Noel, and the cuddly ball of affection is Placidia Shores. We've come from another universe most likely, and I can shed some light on how it happened. At some point in our world, there formed a tear in space, which started spewing energy from right under my home; as I was conceived during that time, and my mother had stayed home the entire pregnancy, I have been enabled to use magic, probably to a larger extent than other humans if they were to come here. I don't know if I am the direct cause, but probably sometime during the night, my house was tossed through the rip in space, and landed here. The likely cause would probably be that over time the tear grew bigger, until my house was taken through it." Alena left out the bit about her father, as Twilight didn't really need to know that at this point in time.

Twilight's eyes widened as Alena told her story, due to her being a sponge for all that raw magic that seeped through a crack in space. No doubt the magic energy had been changed somewhat as it travelled from one realm to another, as Alena's energy seemed a little different than most ponies' magic. It seemed Placidia also had magic within her, but only had two thirds the amount that Alena did. Seeing what this magic would do to either of them over the next few days would prove interesting.

"Alena, do you mind if I ask you about your race's history?"

Alena shook her head, "No, no, it's fine, ask away; though I think it would be best if we all went inside into the common room, don't want to keep a curious princess standing in the doorway all day."

Placidia finally released her grip on Twilight, and the three of them sat on a couch, Alena on the far left, Twilight in the middle, and Placidia on the other side of Twilight. The princess seemed to come up to Alena's chest, the top of her head was just below her neck. Twilight conjured up a notepad and pen, instead of the usual quill. It was a simple invention that was taking Equestria by storm, as it didn't need to be constantly dipped in ink, and were very cheap - quite a bit cheaper than quills. This thought reminded Twilight to thank Ball Point for the massive package of pens she received for her birthday.

"Now," Twilight began, "let's start with your race's origin, then we'll get into politics, religion, and then recent history; I'm only really interested in the last three hundred years." Alena excused herself, walked into the kitchen, and then came back into the room with a full carton of red Fruitopia. This was going to be a long history lesson...

* * *

Twilight couldn't believe what she had heard, what she had written down. The human race was much more violent than ponies, even today, but she couldn't blame them, as they had no magic to help content with their environment. Not having a physical god or goddess in their lives meant that there were a whole bunch of different belief systems, and due to that, a lot of wars based on religion alone. As they had no magic, they had learned to do things fast and efficiently; sadly including weapons in that mix. Their diet was omnivorous, which Twilight could understand, as their biology didn't allow their bodies to synthesize the different proteins and nutrients that they could only get from eating meat. What had really interested her however, was the idea of Alena's government structure. Sure, it had its benefits, but it had become corrupted by allowing money to stay in politics, which is exactly what Equestria _didn't need_.

Alena poked Twilight, "Twilight, do you mind if I ask you to keep this between us for now?"

Twilight looked at Alena, a little curious, "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I just don't want to get into a mess with the government here at the moment. Just let us settle in, and then we can deal with whatever the governing bodies want to throw at us."

Twilight just smiled at Alena's comment, "Oh, I don't think you'll get much trouble from the government, but I'll give you two some time before I bring my findings to Princess Celestia and Luna." Just after, Twilight looked out the window, "Oh, shoot, it's getting late, and I haven't done any shopping yet. I was on my way to the market to get some groceries and a few books for the library."

Alena took a second to let that comment sink in before she gave a reply, "Oh, you're going shopping? Would you mind if we went with you?"

Twilight considered Alena's request for a moment, before she questioned her motives, "Why would you want to go with me to the market, by chance?"

"Well, I figured that if we're going to get the town used to us being around, what better way would there be than to just walk around with the local princess? I mean no offense, it's just that if we're seen chumming around with you, that the locals would think twice about either attacking us or hurrying everyone inside. They worship you, and in turn if you're seen with some strange creature and you _haven't_ blasted it to bits, then you must somewhat trust them to be on their best behaviour."

Twilight let the thought roll around in her head for a moment, "Hang on, what if I'm being held hostage by you two, and I'm only cooperating because I don't want you to bring harm to myself or anyone else in the town?"

This time Placid gave a soft chuckle, "Twilight, I'm sure that the ponies would notice the difference between us actually being non-threatening and us just playing nice; they'd pick up on your distress in an instant, and take any given opportunity to help you out by attacking us. Plus, if we were holding you hostage, we'd have something on you that would keep you in line to make sure you don't do anything rash." Placidia blinked, before she added, "Wait, I just said something completely unnecessary and stupid, didn't I?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, you were spot on, the townsponies would instantly pick up on my distress and do something about it. I don't think we have anything to worry about. Let's go, before the market closes."

The three of them exited Alena's house, and walked side by side to through the town and to the market. Alena and Placid were right... well, mostly right, anyway.


	5. Finding The Center

Placidia and Twilight were all smiles while the three of them were heading to the market, but Alena couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen; it wasn't on the level of mortal danger, but it wasn't a pleasant feeling either. Alena could've sworn that she'd felt someone eyeing them just then, but as she turned around. nothing was there; neither Twilight or Placidia seemed to notice what was up, which left Alena to prepare for whatever was going to happen by herself. Just as they were about to enter the market square, Alena's hairs stood up on end, and adrenaline shot through her whole body. Her eyes changed color to blue, and time seemed to slow down before her eyes... Yet Alena felt as if she could move normally, so she used it to her advantage - by jumping between their pursuer and the intended target: Placidia.

As Alena faced the attacker, she noticed that it was Rainbow Dash, though given the circumstances, she couldn't blame her. Taking up a defensive stance that allowed her to keep her footing, Alena waited for the impending impact from the prismatic mare. Alena stared hard at Rainbow, as time came back to normal speed. Rainbow, quite obviously was not expecting the other monster to jump between her and the one she had targeted, but she was already committed in the attack, and couldn't exactly swerve away with how close she was. As soon as Rainbow came within centimeters of reach, Alena took hold of her forehooves, rolled onto her back, and gave a good kick to her barrel, knocking the wind out of Rainbow. Said pegasus was flung about ten feet away from the three girls, and landed on her back.

Twilight looked between both her friend Rainbow Dash and Alena, without the slightest clue of what to say. Fortunately, it was Alena that broke the awkward silence.

"Hey Twilight, I can sense that this one here is your friend," Alena said as she got up from the ground, "but since when does she attack people you're walking with who _haven't done a single thing to you that warranted an unprovoked attack_ , and I wasn't even the target!" Alena finished her point by bringing the attention of both ponies to Placidia, who just sat down in shock that she was almost attacked without provocation, and could've been severely injured. "I doubt that you guys have government-provided universal healthcare, do you? Cause at the speed _this one_ was going," Alena jabbed a thumb over at Rainbow, "Placidia could've been injured, probably breaking quite a few bones. We're pretty squishy when it comes to blunt force attacks."

It was a moment before Twilight's brain rebooted, and as soon as it had, Rainbow _knew_ she was _absolutely screwed_ beyond belief. The look on Twilight's face was priceless, and if it were any other pony, there would've been pictures galore; no one dared to take a single photo of their newest princess about to yell another pony's ears off.

But instead of yelling, Twilight simply brought a hoof to her barrel as she inhaled, held her breath, and then exhaled while she extended her hoof outwards; obviously it was a calming routine, and one that worked very well. Twilight looked over at Rainbow, and simply shook her head.

"Rainbow, haven't I already explained that I can handle myself when it comes to my well-being? If I sensed that I was in any danger around these two," Twilight gestured a hoof over at Alena and Placidia, "that I would have probably just put them in an enhanced anger dome, and floated them off to the castle where they would wait until I could think of what to do with them."

Rainbow didn't really take this well, and already had a response to Twilight's argument, "Twi, I get it, you're an alicorn, and you have insane amounts of magic - not that you needed it, cause you were already crazy powerful before. Anyway, these two beings are seriously dangerous; hasn't Princess Celestia told you about humans? Come to think of it," Rainbow looked over at Alena, "you, what's your name?"

Alena got up, but was stopped by a death glare from Rainbow, "My name is Alena Noel, and the one you almost injured is Placidia Shores. Why do you ask?"

Just as Alena revealed that tidbit of information, a nearby guard's ears twitched, 'Princess Luna's going to want to know about this...' A second later, the guard vanished out of sight, and no one was the wiser. No one even knew that a Night Guard had been in the nearby alleyway in the first place, and that suited Midnight Blossom just fine.

* * *

Princess Luna was in her bedchambers, as she sat on her bed with her eyes closed, encased in a magical aura as a result of intense concentration and meditation; she was in her center, and was at peace. The few ponies that were asleep still all had pleasant dreams, though this was not why she was still in the dreamscape. Late the night before, there was a great discharge of energy that she could've sworn had only belonged to a race she once knew, but had left some time ago. Shortly after that blast though, two new creatures had entered the realm of dreams that Luna seemed very familiar with, but didn't want to get her hopes up in case it wasn't a couple of humans.

Now, usually while Luna is in the dreamscape, it is a _very_ bad idea to distract her from it... But, seeing as she had requested her most faithful Royal Night Guard, Midnight Blossom to go and investigate in the morning - something which would be rewarded for later, as the thestrals are not usually morning ponies - and then to immediately report back to her, Luna wasn't in as deep as she usually would be. She had hoped that the creatures would've slept in and let her observe them from within their dreams, but it seemed as though they had awakened before she could arrive to either dream.

It was a couple of moments later that Midnight had entered into Luna's chambers, through the use of a special trinket given to her that allowed passage through any distance as if it were a few steps away, provided that the starting point and destination had a shadowy area to enter and exit. She placed the trinket onto Luna's desk, before coming up to the princess, and lightly booping her nose, "Boop."

Luna scrunched her face as an initial reaction to the boop, though she shouldn't have been surprised - the Thestrals seemed to be even closer to her than her own sister, and she was glad to have other ponies looking out for her and keeping her company while her sister could not. Luna got up off of the bed and stretched, before she addressed her guard captain.

"Midnight Blossom, I take it that your little information gathering trip was successful?"

Midnight nodded, "Yes, and it is as you have suspected, we now have a couple of humans in our midst; one Placidia Shores, and one Alena Noel."

Luna had to stop all of her mental facilities to process the information just given to her. 'Noel? A member of _the_ Noel clan is here, in Equestria?' Luna stared at Midnight Blossom with a face that made the guard slightly uncomfortable, "Are you absolutely sure that the person had said that their name was in fact Alena _Noel_?"

Midnight shook her head up and down as if to emulate a jackhammer, "Yes, she had said that her last name was Noel; on top of this, the two humans were being escorted towards the market square by Princess Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Rainbow had initially gone to attack the other one, but Alena must have subconsciously activated some magic, because she was a blur for about a second, and then was seen in a defensive stance between Placidia and Rainbow Dash that allowed her to use Rainbow's momentum to kick her and send her sprawling across the ground about ten hooves away from the group."

Luna wasn't very surprised by this, as Rainbow always had a habit of acting first and thinking second; it's both saved her from and put her into quite a few tricky situations. The subconscious magic activation also wasn't really a surprise either, as ponies sometimes cast magic without even thinking about it; according to Celestia, Twilight had often gone around the palace with a couple of books being levitated by her, though she would not notice until it was pointed out for her, much to her embarrassment. The surprising thing was that the human which had stepped between Rainbow and the intended target had managed to not only sense Rainbow's attack before it happened, but also knew how to set her off balance and toss her like a salad.

"Midnight," The guard looked up at Luna expectantly, "you have done a great service for your country. Take tonight off, you could use some rest after being out most of the day scouting." Midnight gave a salute, which was returned by Luna, and the guard left the room as she headed off to the barracks to put up her armor and then head home; no doubt her family would be happy to see her.

With the guard gone, Luna was alone in her room; this wasn't a problem however, as she used this time to compose a letter to Twilight, giving her instructions on what to do within the next couple of hours...

* * *

Twilight, Alena, Placidia and Rainbow had already been to the market, met up with Twilight's friends, and said hello to some other ponies that were out and about late in the afternoon. Twilight got her books and groceries, Alena and Placidia had gotten a welcome from Pinkie. After that whole ordeal, Twilight had elected that they all head to the Golden Oak Library so she could put away her groceries, and they could all celebrate the coming of two new friendly faces in Ponyville. Eventually the party came, and Fluttershy was not only _not_ hiding under a table, but the first thing she had done was give both Alena and Placidia a hug. Fluttershy, a pony who is afraid of her own shadow by her own words, just hugged the two humans, _out of nowhere_. There was being brave and assertive, then there's what Fluttershy did. Twilight and the rest of her friends couldn't believe that it had happened, but it did. The only one that didn't have a look of shock on their face was Pinkie, but then again, it's Pinkie. When asked, Fluttershy didn't go very far in explaining, but had just said that 'They looked like they needed a hug.'

After the initial shock of Fluttershy giving the two girls a hug that neither wanted to end had tapered off, Twilight decided to ask her friends for some privacy with the two of them so they could get to work on getting control of their magic. Twilight brought out a cushion for each of them to sit on, Alena and Placidia beside each other, with Twilight in front of them. Placidia crossed her legs as she sat down, as did Alena; the latter almost immediately placed her arms in a relaxed position on her legs, and had closed her eyes. Twilight opened her mouth to speak, and as soon as she drew a breath, Alena commented.

"I figured that we were going to do a meditation exercise as soon as you brought over the cushions and yet left the books alone. Seeing as it is a new energy that we aren't used to, we're to find our center, correct?"

Placidia snickered, commenting a "Smartass," under her breath; Twilight musn't have picked it up, as she paid no attention to Placidia. "Yes, we're going to find your center. I am going to guess and say that neither of you will need any help in this exercise, right? All I will say, is that you will know when you find it. That is all. Just close your eyes, clear your mind, and focus inwards."

Initially, as soon as both girls closed their eyes, nothing happened for either of them; the only sound was of the three girls breathing, and their own heartbeats. Placidia had a bit of trouble keeping her mind clear, whereas Alena had no such trouble... It helps when you deal with a bunch of little kids yelling at you over in game chat, whether it's on PC, Xbox or Playstation. Alena had just found a good rhythm with her breathing, and was well on her way with getting into a trance where she could traverse her mind, when there was a soft 'pop' noise that went off between them all.

Twilight took the scroll that had appeared in front of them, and rolled it open, to reveal not a message from Princess Celestia, but Luna. Alena ignored the noise and went back to the exercise after she had encouraged Placidia to do the same. Twilight took this time to read the scroll quietly.

 _'Twilight Sparkle, as you are no doubt aware, you have found yourself in the company of a couple of humans; this may be most exciting to you, but I assure you it is anything but. I wish to speak with these two at the earliest convenience; you do not need to bring them to Canterlot however, as I have deduced that you would have them start out with an exercise that would involve them finding their center - an exercise which is crucial to most unicorns just coming into their magic. I will come and talk to them within their minds after they enter the dream realm, as most novices do after an intense experience such as what they will encounter. You may wish to sit in on these proceedings, and I invite you to do so. **We** also implore you to not tell Celestia about what has, is, and will transpire; I have no doubt that Celestia would bring them to harm, at the very least. She was never trusting of them. Be warned._

 _Luna'_

Twilight magically folded the letter, and floated it over to a nearby end table which she stored all her other letters; just as soon as she looked back from placing the letter in the drawer, Twilight beheld a sight all too common with those that have found their center - both were afloat in their respective auras.

* * *

Just after the noise had interrupted the exercise, Alena had silently bugged Placidia to ignore the message and get back to the task at hand. The two of them closed their eyes, and started a steady breathing rhythm almost immediately. Both girls had entered a trance state, and Alena stood inside her mind, in awe of what she saw - her core was pretty massive, though it was just a little larger than Twilight's own power. She could sense Placidia's as well, which seemed to be around one third her own power. But what _really_ surprised Alena, was that she could see her own soul... and what looked like a magic seal placed upon it.

 _"I wouldn't touch that, at least not yet anyway."_

Alena didn't know where the voice had come from, though it seemed to her that it had come from the glowing ball of magic... which was her source... which meant that her magic was sentient... and that didn't make a whole lot of sense, though she tried to roll with it.

"I have no idea what the heck is going on, but I really don't think that having sentient magic is that common."

There was a chuckle, _"You would be right in assuming that. I am not just magic, but a mirror of your own soul. Tell me, do you know why you have red eyes?"_

"No, I can't say that I do. All I know is that every so often, a _true_ Noel is born, with red eyes. Not much else other than that was touched upon."

 _"You are correct in stating that the true Noels are born with red eyes, but that is not all. Every Noel born with red eyes were born with two souls. They walk the line between life and death like a roller coaster, putting themselves at risk so no one else must."_

"Something tells me that this didn't happen on its own though..."

The "other Alena" nodded, _"Right again. Back, during the times when the human colony first settled upon the land far east of the Crystal Empire, right here on Equus, there were two powerful families that sat in the center of everything. The Winters and the Noels worked together for countless ages, but sometimes it wasn't enough. There was as much peace as there was turmoil, citizens worried for their safety. Near the city, was a gathering of Foxes, strong in the ways of magic that governed over nature and souls. An injured one had wandered into the city, and a member of the Noel family had nursed it back to health. When the Fox's family was found, its father was beyond grateful; so much so, that it had asked for the head of the Noel family._

 _"The family was skeptical, but the head agreed to meet with the elder Fox. It was then that the Fox granted upon the Noel family a boon: every generation, one Noel will be born with red eyes, shall have a Fox soul inhabit their body as well, and granted a drastically increased pool of magic."_

"So, what was the purpose of the Fox soul?"

 _"To guide the person granted this power, and make sure that they stay true to themselves. We have been referred to as sisters, teachers, and many other terms that fall within the frame of companion."_

"Well, if what you say is true, then you kind of _are_ more like a sister to me than anything else. But what wasn't explained however, was why you haven't revealed yourself until now."

 _"The answer is simple: you never asked, nor have you come here until now."_

"What about you knowing all that stuff that happened way back when?"

 _"Whenever someone such as you are born, all history from the last person born with this gift is given to the next, and so on. It has been like this for generations."_

Alena was about to say something, when there was a beeping noise, similar to a pager, which was both heard and felt by the two of them. Alena's 'sister' spoke up, _"Well, it seems that someone is attempting to catch our attention, though I would assume that it is Princess Luna. If it is indeed her, then she will probably want to speak with Placidia as well."_

Alena raised an eyebrow, "And you know these names, because...?"

 _"I know these names because I have access to your memories. Think of me as a tulpa, except for the fact that I have not been created through your own intentions. Now, I will bring you into a dreamscape, and trigger a spell that will do the same to Placidia, which will bring her to the same one, so Luna can talk to the two, or three of us really, a little easier."_

Just after that was said, Alena felt a funny sensation, as if there were static in the air, and she could faintly smell the telltale scent of ionized particles; this action got Twilight's attention as well, as she not only detected the spell, which wasn't one that could be cast by any amateur unicorn, but also dragged her into the dreamscape as well. It was another minute, before Placidia and Alena met up within the dream, and just in front of them, was the silhouette of a pony. The two couldn't exactly make out who it was, until there was the telling glow of her starry mane. Alena and Placidia both stared in awe, as right in front of them, stood none other than Princess Luna...


	6. Shouting at Your Friends

Princess Luna - Protector of The Night, Defeater of Nightmares, Destroyer of Shadows, Defender of Dreams, and The Fun One, stood before Alena, Placidia, Twilight, and someone that looked an awful lot like Alena, the only difference was that she had eyes which were a serenely colored sky blue. Placidia didn't know what to think of this situation, though Twilight and Luna could both sense that there was more to this being than just looking like Alena; she was immensely powerful, though to them it seemed that she was tied to Alena somehow.

Luna, being the more serious one and yet still extremely fun to hang out with, at least according to foals, could see what this strange new person had done; the fact that their very soul had taken on magical properties was not lost on Luna. Both Placidia and Twilight both had questions however, and wanted them heard.

"So Alena, who is this person that looks an awful lot like you? She seems to have the same power that you have, but an immensely larger amount of it; I'm surprised that she hasn't surged since coming here."

Alena was interrupted by her sister, "I can see that the dark blue one can see what I have done, though it is far less obvious to two of you standing here. I have told Alena, though that is because I am directly related to her, and she deserved to know. For starters, you may call me Alissa; what I have done however, was protect Alena from being treated as an experiment, a test subject, by our country's government. How have I done that, exactly? It is simple: Alena is the latest born among the long line of those who bear the gift given to them by the father of Kisumi, a stark white Fox. Due to my nature, I also occupy her body, as a second soul; I took any excess energy that might have been given to her, and sealed it within her soul. Energy can be placed within, but it cannot be taken out without breaking the seal. Doing so will grant her untold amounts of power, but with that come the consequences of being in a world where that kind of power is feared."

Twilight was shocked at the implications of what she was told, though Placidia had donned a more understanding look upon herself. "So then, those times that you got really into something or upset, and your eyes changed to blue, that wasn't actually your magic doing that, it was Alissa?"

Alissa nodded, "Yes, that was me; I stepped in at those times to keep her from going over the edge and doing something she would regret."

"This... this is nuts."

Alissa smirked, "If you think this is nuts, wait until you hear what brought the two of you here: the Tree of Harmony."

Both Luna's and Twilight's eyes went wide when Alissa mentioned the Tree, though for two very different reasons; Luna was shocked to learn that it was the tree of Harmony that had brought the two girls into Equestria, and Twilight was shocked to learn that someone from _outside_ of Equestria even knew about the thing. Luna however had beaten Twilight to the punch for questioning Alissa.

"The Tree of Harmony would do no such thing as bringing someone from the outside into Equestria, especially if it were a Human. Celestia has not been acting quite the same these days, and adding a Human into the mix would just throw her right off the edge, and into Oblivion; Tartarus would be a vacation."

 _"Oh, I'm sure that Celestia would manage at least a few months with only a couple of humans here, especially if one of them is from the house of Noel."_

Everyone present looked about to find where the voice had come from, though it took Luna only a couple of seconds to deduce the obvious fact - the Tree had finally spoken.

"The Tree of Harmony... So, the legends _are_ true, the Tree truly is alive. I had only thought of it as merely an old tale, never had it occurred to me that it might be an actual living thing. Though there is another question: are you, Alena, truly from the house of Noel?"

Alena nodded, "Yes, that is my family's last name, and has been for as long as anyone can remember. Speaking of my family though, eventually the two, well three actually, of us will have to get home; there's no telling what kind of panic people are in due to the fact that the house is gone... That, or they just completely forgot about us and moved on with their lives already."

* * *

The Internet was abuzz with activity, people chatting on the 'Net now more than ever, talking about the "Ghost House." Word was that the house just disappeared sometime during the night, without any explanation as to why it happened. Almost as soon as one person noticed, there were 'Suits' all around the place, analyzing anything and everything they could get their hands on. Thing is, that was the government's job, and they were keen on keeping the government out of what was going on. Almost within the same day, they had built a base of sorts right where the house was, which got people talking even more.

Hacker groups from around the world rallied themselves together in short order, in an attempt to gather their resources together and take a crack at the company that was apparently better at keeping things secret than the government's own Secret Service... They got in, for all but two seconds before they got booted out again; there was also the matter of all the servers they used in the attempt literally blowing themselves apart from stress. Ebay, Amazon, Facebook and even Google had spotty service for three and a half hours, which was how long the attempt took. Some theorized that they had an AI for their main firewall, but that would be absurd.

Everyone wondered where the house went, and went about their own way in finding out exactly where it went, and why...

* * *

Alena turned to Luna, "Would it be possible to make an attempt at sending either my house home with us in it, or at least myself and Placidia?" Alissa looked at Alena dubiously, "What? You'll be going with me, you _live inside of me_ , remember?" Alissa had a look of realization before she kicked at the ground in embarrassment.

"It would be easy enough to send the two, well three of you really, back to your home; the problem lies with getting your house back through the rift. It's not impossible, but it would take some time to do; I doubt that you would want to wait that long to get back to your world, if they all worry and wonder at where you two have gone."

"Yeah, we could go home, and just wait for the house to come back later. It isn't that much trouble to be without the house for a few days, as Placidia lives pretty much right next door to me."

Luna nodded firmly, "It shall be done, then. I will come by in three hours to bring you two home. I just hope that none of this is found out, as it would be awkward explaining all of this to dear Tia."

After what seemed like an eternity to everyone else, Twilight had finally spoken up, "What I don't get though, is why you are implying that Celestia would have any problems with humans being here. What is it that makes her so uneasy about them?"

Placidia nodded in affirmation, "Yeah, that's a little odd, at least to me. Why would one princess be okay with us being here, while another doesn't want anything to do with us? Especially if we've never been here before?"

"That is not entirely true; humans have been on this planet before, though it was many a-year ago since that has ceased. Celestia was always uneasy around humans, as their magic worked a little bit differently than that of ponies. Where ponies, specifically unicorns, would have to shape the magic into a spell before casting, a human would simply have to request it to act a certain way, and it would do just that. It seemed as though they were closer to the magic of Equus than us ponies, but Tia refused to accept that fact. Coupled with the fact that most humans were on the same level as a class five or six unicorn in terms of magic power and potential, Celestia was scared for the ponies of Equestria. They had devices and trinkets that were eons ahead of our own, simply because of one thing: they strove to improve.

"They acted the complete opposite of unicorns back in those days. "If it needs doing, don't be lazy and use your magic to do it. What if you can no longer use it?" That was the motto used by genius inventors of those days, who made tools to do things, instead of simply using their magic to do it all."

"That sounds like us, alright; the one thing that's bothering me though, is the claim that humans had ever lived on this planet. Then again, with that hole in space that we ended up coming through, it's not that hard to believe we once existed here."

Luna nodded, "Celestia doesn't know this, but the Noels were the ones that had created the Tree of Harmony in the first place."

The Tree cut in with its own statement, _"This is true; I was created by the Humans; though they did not intend it, I gained sentience after many a millennia of observation via the magic of this world. It was through this observation that I have noted something: someone is planning something nefarious, though I cannot discern as to whom it is. That is why I have brought in miss Alena over here; having her friend transported here was an accident, though it seemed that it was an inconsequential one. There is something of note though - the two of you seem very close."_

Alena and Placidia both blushed, Alissa interlaced her fingers, rested her chin on them and made kissy faces at the two, while the two princesses both looked on in amusement. Around five minutes later, Luna cleared her throat to catch everyone's attention, "Well, it seems that I must take my leave; I have a few things to attend to before I must go raise the moon. I will see you all in three hours."

Just after that, Luna conjured up a door made of pure black shadows, and walked through it, after which the door vanished. No one said a word about her simple exit... at first.

"I have _got_ to learn how to do that. That is awesome." All heads turned to Alena, "What? It totally is."

A couple seconds later, Twilight spoke up, "I think it's time that we all left this place, we've spent too much time in here as it is. On top of that, I want to teach you two some magic before Luna gets here." All three other girls agreed, and one by one they all exited the space. Alena was the first to open her eyes, and admire the night sky that could be seen through the window of the Library. The glimmering stars that painted the night sky like a beautiful canvas with more skill than Michelangelo, Picasso, and Leonardo Da Vinci put together. Indeed, Luna had some insane artistic skills that needed to be captured in a museum.

Alena's train of thought was derailed by Twilight, who came up to her with not a book, but just some advice. "Instead of concentrating on levitation like most books advise, why don't we take a different approach to magic. Since the two of you have different ways of using magic than unicorns, I figured that now would be the best time to experiment on how that magic works. Let's start with something simple: incantation. Think of something you want your magic to accomplish, and associate that with a word which fits. Simple, yet not so simple, really. Alena, why don't you go first?"

As soon as the word 'incantation' had left Twilight's lips, Alena knew exactly where to pull inspiration from for the exercise. Alissa decided to butt in and add her own comment. _"Why don't we try something that will drive Twilight's curiosity up a wall?"_

'Sure, but which one?'

Alissa took a second before responding, _"How about Aura Whisper?"_

Alena instantly rejected the proposed Shout, 'No, Twilight would use it in public and see everypony's life force that's nearby; she'd feel compelled to either avoid those that are close to death's door, avoid everypony, or try to spend time with everypony that was close to dying. Nopony must know about that Shout. _Nopony._ ' It was another second before Alena thought of something, and when she did, she got the widest smile on her face.

"Hey Twilight, can I have a glass of water?"

Twilight nodded, "Sure, let me go get you both one." Twilight exited to the kitchen, and returned one moment later with two glasses of water within her aura, and set them both down on the table nearby. Placidia picked one up to drink, whereas Alena left hers to sit on the table.

"Watch the glass of water, you two."

Both Twilight and Placidia watched the glass of water with interest, as Alena drew a breath. The very second that Alena opened her mouth, Placidia was _damn_ sure she knew what Alena was about to do. Sure enough, Alena did just what Placid thought she was gonna do, but not what everyone else thinks she was going to do.

 _"Fo, Krah Diin."_ Upon the last word leaving Alena's mouth, with it came a puff of frost and wind, which instantly froze the water within the glass, causing it to expand and crack the glass severely. The intended effect was instantaneous - Twilight was speechless as she eyed the glass of water. Normally, freezing spells would take at least a few seconds to turn the water completely into ice, whereas the magic that was just used by Alena had turned it into ice instantly. There was another unintended effect with the shout though, as Spike came into the room, with a serious look on his face.

"Where did you learn that?" Spike looked directly into Alena's eyes, never wavering.

"A video game from my world; I take it that dragons in this world speak in **_Dovahzul_** then?" The foreign word that was said by Alena had reverberated in the very fabric of the universe.

Spike was about to answer in Eqquish, but thought better of it. Instead, he opted to respond in his race's tongue. **_"Geh, mu tinvaak ko kruziik tinvok do dovah. Nii los closely dein soven tol nunon un reyliik knew, erei nu apparently. Ko qurnen draknah, Zu'u fund lost wah tal hi wah faal Zuwuth Dovah, koraav ol hi hahtaar lot vahlokeyv mii suleyk do zul, Zu'u fen ni dreh ful. Zu'u felt hi charging vok wah brah Silkun Sumah, nuz ruz hi stopped; dii nunon lorfonaar fund kos tol hi miinahsul vir Suvulaan fund brah nii ahrk ek tahmusend wah niil droz. Zu'u nox hi fah tol."_**

Though Twilight felt her very soul vibrating at the use of Dovahzul so close to her, Alena and Placidia felt nothing, mostly. Alena heard the words being spoken in Dovahzul, and let her inner geek shine as she translated what Spike had said.

According to Spike, under normal circumstances, he would have to report the one using their language to an Elder, who would no doubt make that person, whether it be Gryphon, Pony, or otherwise, "disappear", most likely. Though seeing as she had respected the ancient language, and gauged how Twilight would react and try to use the shout that she had first planned on using, Alena had instead chosen to use Frost Breath, which pleased Spike.

 ** _"Zu'u los krosis fah upsetting hi, Zeik Zu'u drey ni seik wah drun ahkon. Suvulaan lost tovaak mu unt incantation, ahrk dii diist lor lost wah unt Zaan, ol nii lost easiest truk Zu'u vust lorot do. Zu'u drey ni laan Suvulaan misusing faal Silkun Sumah, fos los fahvos Zu'u chose Fo Su'um sinon. Waan mu oblaan daal, Zu'u fen vos hi tinvaatey kred tol Zu'u mindos malur do tinvok nol. Los tol bek voth hi?"_**

Spike smiled, _**"Tol honaat med moor, Zu'u fund med wah unt nii tir ahstiid."**_

"Cool. Now that that's all settled, who wants to watch a movie to pass the time?"

Placid and Spike shot their hands up and shouted in stereo, "I DO!"~ Twilight however, was more concerned with what had just transpired.

"What were you two talking about? I couldn't understand a word you two had said."

Alena looked over at Twilight, "Sorry, but I'm not at liberty to discuss what was talked about in Dovahzul, as telling you _anything_ from what was said would lead to you attempting to translate the whole language, and trying to use the language and its shouts, with a very high chance of injuring yourself, others, or even worse. On top of all that, it isn't even up to me to make that decision, nor is it up to Spike. An Elder dragon would have to grant you permission to study the language, and only if they deem you worthy. The reason that I am allowed to even continue living right now after using it, is because I have shown to respect the power of The Voice. To use it without caution would be a disgrace to the Ancient Ones and to all Dovah. I hope you understand."

Twilight was taken back by the response, but took no offense to it. There was a lot of truth in Alena's words, not that she could blame her. After all, she had pegged the nail right on the head about Twilight's possible actions. "I do understand, and I would be lying if I said that I wouldn't do what you have just described. Now, onto a happier topic: how are we going to watch a movie? The cinemas are closed by now, so we wouldn't be able to watch one until tomorrow."

"Oh, little Twilight, what makes you think that we were going to go to the cinema? I've got a better idea. Think you could teleport me to my house?"

"Sure, I can do that."

 _"What are you planning?"_

'I want to get teleportation figured out sooner rather than later, and I'd rather learn from experiencing it than by studying it from a book and interpreting it wrong, which could result in horrific dismemberment and/or other grizzly events.'

"Alright, while you're gone, Spike and I can keep ourselves busy." Placid looked over to Spike, "Hey, ever play a board game called Risk?" Placidia broke out into an evil grin, one that was matched by Spike.

"Oh, you're going _down_!"

"Bring it on, jalapeno breath!"

Twilight and Alena smiled at the two with their antics, as they ran over to a shelf to retrieve the aforementioned board game. Twilight looked over to Alena as if to ask her if she was ready for the teleport. Alena sighed, "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

With that, Twilight lit her horn and teleported the two of them back to Alena's house, with a resounding 'pop', leaving Placidia and Spike to start a conquest and friendly rivalry that will never end.


	7. That Went Well Enough

Twilight and Alena appeared in Alena's home with a flash of light and a pop; the human opened her eyes after the light faded a second later, and made her way over to the light switch to turn the lights on. The second they were on, one thing was apparent to Alena: someone had entered the home after they had all left. There were clues of someone else being here, as there were things that were out which were originally somewhere else, and so on. Twilight looked at Alena questioningly, which seemed to say that she didn't know that something was up.

"Someone else was here while we were gone, and is possibly still here," Alena said in a hushed tone to Twilight, who in turn lit up her horn to cast a spell.

"I just used a spell that would alert me to anypony's presence within this house, and there doesn't seem to be any reaction."

"That can mean one of two things: whatever's in the house isn't a pony, or there's no one in the house right now." Alena thought for a moment, "Hey, think you could see how recent the tracks are in the house, excluding your own?"

Twilight's eyes went wide, "I've never thought about doing that, though using that spell shouldn't have surprised me. Let me get to work on it."

 ** _"You do realize that you could've done all that with your own magic at half the cost and cast time, right?"_**

 _'Oh, let her feel useful; it would've taken me a few minutes to figure out how to do some of these things anyway.'_

 ** _"Whatever. I'll be here if you need me, just gonna go watch some YouTube."_**

 _'Wait, the Internet works here?'_

 ** _"No it doesn't, I'm just watching memories of videos that you've seen. By the way, feels like Sparky's almost done with the spell. Pay attention. Also, remind me to teach you how to teleport later; it could save our lives in the near future. That, and there's a lot of spells we could craft using the base from the teleport spell."_**

Before Alena could respond to Alissa's last comment, Twilight got her attention, "The spell's done and it's been cast. Now, let's see exactly what's hiding out in your house..."

The track finding spell was cast on the house, and immediately we were surprised to find another pony's tracks in the house; the only odd thing was that they glowed a bright caustic green color.

"So, Twilight, are you sure that whatever's in my house isn't a pony?"

Twilight had a look of confusion on her face, though that didn't last long, and took on a look of suspicion. "Well, the only other race that could produce these sort of pony hoof prints would be the Changelings, but I didn't think that we had any in this town..."

"Well, we aren't going to find out what's going on without following the tracks through the house. Come on," Alena beckoned to Twilight, as she left the common room and followed the tracks through the hallway. _'Whatever's in here better **not** have gotten into my workstation. There's enough stuff in there to get me incarcerated for computer fraud acts with at least a fifty year sentence.'_ Fortunately, the tracks lead away from Alena's workstation room between the two bedrooms, and she breathed a sigh of relief. That relief was short lived, however, as the tracks lead straight to her bedroom, and then all over it. Then there was her iPod Classic, which was absolutely _covered_ in green.

"Jeez, it's like they had a thing for... awesome... music... Twilight, stay here, I'm going to go to the common room again. Whatever comes out, do _**not**_ attack it. Just keep it in your sights until I return."

A moment later, music started playing throughout the house; Twilight noticed that there were speakers through the hallways, and possibly through the whole house. It sure did sound like it. The song was new to her, but Twilight seemed to like the music; it was catchy, and filled her with a feeling of elation. She felt like she could conquer anything she set herself to.

That feeling didn't last long however, as just when the song was about to get even better, it stopped just before the beat dropped at 38 seconds in. Twilight felt like she had the rug pulled out from under her hooves, though it seemed that whatever else was in the house had an even bigger buzz killed, and voiced their opinion. A pony had come out of the closet, shouting obscenities for killing the 'wubs', and ruining her mood. The pony, whom Twilight recognized (and secretly fangirled over), had a snowy white coat, two toned blue mane and tail that looked like it hadn't been brushed and yet still looked good, and piercing red eyes. The unicorn's cutie mark was a mirrored image of two bridged eighth notes.

"Oh, Princess Twilight, funny seeing you here. Ehe, he he he, heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes, "No, you're not getting out of explaining this one, _Vinyl Scratch_ ; if that's even your real name."

Just before Vinyl was about to answer, the two heard footsteps through the house, headed their way. Twilight wasn't worried, though that wasn't the case for Vinyl. _'That's unmistakably the sound of something bipedal, but there aren't very many races within Equestria's borders that are bipedal. The only exception would be the Diamond Dogs, but their caves are outside town borders. There's only one other race that would be in Equestria which is bipedal... but that's impossible... All the humans were evacuated from this world eons ago by Princess Luna herself! There can't be a human here, can there? This house_ does _kind of fit the level of technology from the Humans' early days of society.'_

Any further thoughts were cut off, as Alena had come up to the doorway and had leaned against the frame. "So, who's our little friend here?"

Twilight blinked before she responded, "Erm, this pony, if you could call her that, is Vinyl Scratch. She's the one that broke into your home and messed with your stuff."

"Hey! I didn't mess with her stuff, I just listened to her music player!"

Alena gave a small chuckle, "Well, that still counts as ' _messing with my stuff_.' So, mind explaining not coming up on Twilight's 'find-a-pony' spell?"

"That's easy, I'm not a pony. I'm what ponies call a 'Changeling'."

"What do they do, aside from shapeshift that is?"

Twilight butted in before something could be said, "They suck emotions, usually love, out of a pony until there is nothing left but a shell of their former self."

This comment got Vinyl angry; _very_ angry, actually. "HEY! We do NOT suck all emotion out of a pony till they're a miserable shell! We Changelings have no way of recharging our magic naturally like the rest of the species that live on this planet, so we siphon off magic from other races. No, we don't steal emotions, we gather energy from ambient emotions that are around the area. Freely given love, which is the most powerful emotion that can be converted into magic, is way better than what you get from stealing it; this was learned _long ago._ You want to know how we solved the starvation problem that the Changeling hives had about fifty years ago? We set up adoption centers, filled 'em with nymphs, or 'baby Changelings', and put them in a room with a one-way mirror while some prospective parents came in and toured the place. The nymphs would make forms based on traits from both parents, and someone from the staff would give them an enchantment so that the form stayed unless the Changeling willed it off. The adopted nymphs gathered enough love from their parents that the operation of only three orphanages kept the whole Changeling race alive and well. Another example of getting 'free love' was having Changelings get into the entertainment business; authors, musicians, heck, even _party clowns._ Last I heard, there were a few Changelings in the modelling business as well. One of them is very well known, and is married to a noble."

"So, Vinyl, meet Alena. Alena, this is Vinyl Scratch, who is apparently a Changeling."

Alena offered Vinyl a hand for her to shake, who did so vigorously. "Awesome to meet you, Alena! By the way, would you mind if I based my future musical creations off of some of your music?"

"Uh, yeah, go nuts. Not like they can claim copyright over inter-dimensional borders or anything."

All was fine with the world, at least it was until Twilight voiced something obvious. "Um, not to be the mean one, but we haven't addressed the main issue here: Vinyl broke into your home. Am I the only one that sees there's something wrong with that statement?"

It took all of one second for Alena to provide an answer to the question posed by Twilight, "I'm not pressing charges."

That got Twilight's right eye to twitch, "What did you say?"

"I said that I'm not pressing charges. By your reaction, it seems that some laws from my world are the same over here; unless you personally saw Vinyl here break into the house, you cannot prosecute her without me pressing charges. Since this is still clearly my home, citizenship notwithstanding, I still hold dominion over what goes on in my own house. Vinyl will not be charged, and there's nothing you can say about it."

"B-but, she broke into your home! You should be furious!"

Alena waved a hand in the air, "And I said that I'm not pressing charges. It'd be a different story if she had malicious intent, mind you, but that isn't the case."

Twilight slumped down in defeat and let go an annoyed sigh, "Fine, I won't bother you about it again. Let's just go pick a movie and get back to my place. Vinyl, I guess you're welcome to join us if you'd like. I know that Luna would be happy to see you."

"That sounds awesome, I haven't seen Princess Luna in a while. Would you mind if we walked back to your place though?"

The pair was about to leave, when Alena brought something that should've been obvious to their attention, "So, what about the whole Changeling thing? I thought you were going to bring her to whoever deals with that sort of thing."

Twilight got an offended look on her face, "Hey, just because I've had negative opinions about a race does not mean that I have the power to do whatever I like to them. All sentient creatures deserve equal rights, misconceptions be damned."

Vinyl thought that this would be a good time to chime in, "Well, it seems that dear old Celestia doesn't trust us enough to share your views. though she hasn't done anything towards us... _yet._ She's always been a bit wary when it came to species other than _her little ponies._ "

"Well, as long as she doesn't act upon her personal opinions of those that she doesn't trust, then there isn't really anything that can be done. It would take quite a bit of maneuvering, but if she _did_ let her personal opinions affect any laws that are put into placec which infringe upon the rights of sentient beings, and it can be proven, then she can and may very well be dethroned. I don't like to think about it, but if she doesn't uphold the rights of _everyone_ , then she isn't really that fit to rule." Twilight could barely believe what she had just said to Alena and Vinyl, but deep down, she _knew_ that she stood by every word that she had just said.

"Whoa, look at you, Miss Future Ruler of Equestria! If I had any say, I'd think that you would make the perfect ruler for all of Equestria, let alone Princess Celestia's replacement!"

Twilight blushed a little at the compliment, "Awww, stop. I couildn't possibly replace both Princess Luna and Celestia, I'd have to stay up twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Alicorns may not need rest, but it still helps one's mind to keep to a healthy sleep schedule."

Once she sensed that Twilight didn't have anything else to add, Alena butted in, "Hey Vinyl, you want to come with Twilight and I back to her place, and watch a movie?"

Vinyl's ears perked up, "That would be awesome! When are we going?"

"Just as soon as we find a movie to bring back with us."

The three of them entered the common room and browsed the collection of movies that lined the shelves within the room; one of them caught Twilight's attention, "Hey Alena, what's 'Archer'?"

Alena grabbed the dvd case out of Twilight's aura, briskly walked over to the shelf that it was grabbed from, and placed it back. "No, we're not watching Archer; I'd rather not have you become a sarcastic ass just before Luna gets here, and have me explain why you've picked up nearly every single thing one should not do in the presence of those with power. Seriously, if it were any other day and Luna weren't coming, I'd be totally for vegging out with a couple rolls of weed and watching it with you two and Placidia... Though, we'd need to get someone to go on a snack run, cause I'm all out of munchies."

Twilight's eyes narrowed, "Weed? Wait a second, you don't mean marijuana, do you?"

"Why, is it illegal here too?"

Vinyl butted in, "No, it's completely legal, as well as other drugs; get em' at a local dispensary. The list of legal and regulated drugs are weed, lsd, quite obviously alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, meth, and morphine. There's different guidelines for dispensing the different drugs and substances, though weed and tobacco have the loosest ones."

"Thank you Vinyl, but I don't think we needed the whole explanation about all that. We need to be picking a movie, remember? Anyway, I've got the perfect movie for all of us to watch: Grandma's Boy." Alena went over the the other shelf and grabbed the movie, the Xbox, and a spare screen from her room; the three of them teleported back to Twilight's place.

* * *

Placidia and Spike were still in the middle of their game, when a telltale _pop_ and flash of light interrupted Spike's scheming. Spike silently got up from the table he and Placidia sat at, walked over to a nearby shelf, and grabbed a camera. Placidia was a little confused, until Spike took a picture of the board and the layout, the photo printing out within moments of the picture being taken.

"It's in case you come back again; I'd like to continue the game from where we left off."

Placidia couldn't help but scratch Spike on the back of his head and coo at him, which made him blush profusely.

"Ahem," All heads turned to Alena, "Are we going to watch a movie, or fawn all over Spike and make him uncomfortable? I'm all for messing around with people, but it's only entertaining for so long; let's get this movie going! Oh, and could someone get the popcorn while I get all this set up?"

"Oh, Alena don't set anything up yet, I have to go down to the lab and get my generator."

Before a response could be made, there was a loud pop and a flash, though it wasn't purple, but blue... _Royal blue_. Vinyl beat everyone to the punch however, and addressed the princess with a small curtsey. She didn't give the oh so original 'Your Highness'; no, Vinyl just asked the Princess of The Night, Scourge of Nightmares, Bane of Fears, Protector of Dreams, Princess of Parties, "What's up?"

"Change of plan! I'm teleporting you back to your home this minute. Discord felt your magic signature and there's no doubt that Celestia will find out soon!"

Twilight stopped what she was doing, and joined in on the conversation. "Wait, what's so wrong with Princess Celestia finding out that Alena and Placidia are here?"

Luna's eyes went wide, like dinner plates, " _What's wrong with Alena and Placidia being here?_ Well, let me tell you! Celestia is a little iffy when it comes to, ah, _visitors_ ' this goes triple for visitors from other worlds, whom wield power that is very similar to our own and Discord's. It would no doubt unsettle her that the two of you have come unannounced, and haven't come directly to us before gallivanting around town with little to no supervision. No, you do not count, Twilight Sparkle. I was talking about guards, this town has absolutely none whatsoever. It is a gross underestimation towards those that live a life of crime, and would jump at the chance to bring someone as powerful as Alena, Alissa, or Placidia to their side.

Twilight, Vinyl," Luna addressed the two, "the two of you will accompany Alena and Placidia back to their world and gain an understanding of how things are over there as of now. You will come back in one month's time according to our world, which is two months over there. I will not be able to teleport your home back with you four, but I will disguise it as a normal home that fits right in with the rest of the houses. Twilight," PurpleSmart nodded, "your request to have Ponyville become its own city-state has been approved not only by me, but by the council as well. Ponyville is now its own independent country, and everyone has dual citizenship. The checkpoints will be set up when you return so you can oversee the process and make sure that We did not miss anything."

Twilight smiled, "Thank you Princess Luna, I greatly appreciate your actions."

Vinyl's eyes went wide at the implications of Ponyville becoming independent, "Wait, if Ponyville's going to be an independent city-state, then - "

"Yes, I will personally be spearheading true peaceful talks with the Changeling Council to bring about a peaceful relationship between our races."

"Can Princess Cadence attend the talks as well?"

Twilight nodded, "Yes, of course she will attend the peace talks; it'd be foolish to have peace talks without having another nation that's already allies with the ones we're trying to build a treaty with. Plus, I'm pretty sure she's secretly proud of the fact that her nation is wholly responsible for keeping the Changelings peaceful."

"Tread lightly, Sparkle; we wouldn't want to tip the scales too much too soon. Any power shift is likely to make Celestia worried. I will take the time that you are gone for your research sabbatical to see if I can figure out exactly what is plaguing my _dearest_ sister's mind. Now, all of you need to gather yourselves in a close circle, I am getting ready to transport you to the other world. Oh, and be warned Twilight and Vinyl, this teleport will instantaneously turn you into humans, though you will be able to access your magic. However, I must warn you that whatever magic you use is forever lost until you return to Equus. The human world does not have any sort of magic field that is known of currently, so unless Alena or Alissa are feeling generous, you must keep watch over your magic reserves. Lose too much, and there's a good chance that you will end up comatose. Now, let Us begin."

Luna channeled a good chunk of her magic straight to her horn, though instead of the spell charging up there, she shot it onto the floor of the library, and a magic circle, for lack of a better term, made itself known to the inhabitants. Everyone could feel the sheer amount of power needed for the spell, and the more adept of the magic users were just barely able to make out what went into the spell, though Twilight couldn't help but notice something: the magic exactly matched her own signature!

"Princess Luna, this spell is crafted so that it matches my own signature. I thought doing so was illegal?"

The Princess of the Night had a look of concentration on her face which never left as she replied to Twilight, "Yes, it is still illegal; I am doing it however so as to clear my involvement with you traveling to another world. You going to another world randomly would be seen as something inconsequential, whereas if I were to send you somewhere, there would be no end of suspicion. It is more for their protection and yours rather than mine. Celestia would have no end of questions if she found out I transported you. Now, the spell is almost done, so brace yourselves for the teleport."

Before anyone could do so however, all four of the girls were teleported out of the library, and back to Alena's homeworld. Whether they got back her house however, is a different story.

* * *

There was a flash outside, and the girls emerged slightly disoriented, but no worse for wear. Alena and Placidia immediately noticed that they weren't back where the house originally was, but in the middle of a small town. Twilight and Vinyl got up with no problem, while Alena and Placidia took a moment to gather themselves before they stood up. When they did, Alena noticed almost instantly that they weren't even in the same state that they left from in the first place. There definitely wasn't a CVS Pharmacy near a warehouse, and she's never lived near a Dunk 'n Donuts. It took a moment, but a look of realization dawned upon Alena's face.

"Hey guys, I know where we can spend the night."

Placidia looked straight at Alena, "Oh, please do tell, where are we staying now that we quite obviously aren't anywhere near my house?"

Alena rolled her eyes and started walking, "I've got an acquaintance that owns several safe houses in most small towns that surround every major city all across the country. He gave me instructions to where each of them are, and made me swear that I wouldn't bring anyone to them that have the potential to reveal their location to anyone that matters. I need you all to swear that you _will absolutely not_ reveal the location to the safe house that we're nearing to _anyone. At all._ I cannot stress this enough, these places are almost always being used by someone who also knows this guy, and put his neck out for me when I needed to use one. I had to give him all of my info to make him trust me that I wouldn't reveal their locations to anyone that would rat us out."

"Wait, when you say all of your inf - "

"When I say all of my info, I mean _all of my info._ He's the only other person that I trust with my online identity. Oh, we're here." Alena turned her attention towards a nondescript looking garage, which looked like an auto shop, and there were a few cars parked around the lot in front of it; a Viper, Mustang GT, GTO, and a Honda Civic. Alena went over to the keypad near the garage door, punched in a code, and opened the door. What stood in front of them, was most obviously _not_ the interior of an auto shop, but looked like a crash house. A queen size bed, a giant flatscreen tv, xbox one, ps4, a fully stocked kitchen, laundry machines, and a bathroom with a shower. Off to one side were multiple armoires, with piles of clothes in different sizes and colors.

Alena lead the other three into the safe house, and shut the garage door before she flopped onto the bed and fell asleep. Everyone else climbed on and promptly fell asleep. They could sort things out tomorrow...


	8. Intercepted

Alena, Placidia, and Vinyl were all asleep on the bed that lay in the safe house, all snuggled up under the oversized blanket and multiple pillows. Twilight had a content smile on her face as she slept, Vinyl talked in her sleep at random intervals, and Placidia latched onto Alena's right arm in her sleep. On the other hand, Alena wasn't necessarily dreaming; no, she was in a blank void within her mind, and Alissa was there to accompany her.

* * *

Alissa pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration, "For the last time, we can't hack into the different systems _just_ to give you all fake I.D.'s, it's almost impossible to do with what little we have here! No, we'd need something a _lot_ more powerful if we were to even attempt to pull it off."

"What if... What if I reach out to some contacts that can secure all of us some fake I.D. for the time being, so we can safely traverse the cities and not get pulled into a van by guys in suits wanting answers?"

Alissa gave Alena a questioning stare, "That's a good idea, but what about getting funds in order to actually travel and not leave a trace with credit or debit card statements?"

"...Right, we have no money, I don't trust either of our magic to make counterfeits that can't be caught, and all of my accounts and Placidia's are most likely being monitored. There's only one real way to get some cash so we can get ourselves some better accommodations."

Alissa got a knowing look, "You want to just casually stroll into a bank, hack them while you're setting up an account with obviously fake I.D., and stroll on out with bunches of cash. Alena, you are one crazy bitch, though that comment is more than true, and pretty deserving."

All that achieved to do though, was to make Alena blush, "Awww, stop it! Don't flatter me unless you want to take me out on a date."

Alissa gave Alena a raspberry, "Nah, I wouldn't take you out even if we weren't sisters and I didn't occupy the same body as you," and then she stuck out her tongue.

"Thanks, I love you too, Alissa."

"Speaking of, I know how much you care for Placidia. I can see how much you just want to be with her, Alena. It pains you, even if you yourself don't feel it. Take a leap and tell her how you really feel about her, she won't judge you. The two of you are so close, and you've already done things that are normally done by couples anyway. You're both comfortable with each other enough to sleep with nothing on in the same bed and not get weirded out by it. Take the next step, and ask her out, before I take control and do it for you."

Though she was laughing, Alena knew that Alissa was serious about wanting her to confess her feelings to Placidia. "Alright, I'll do it, right after she wakes up. I'm going to get up and see if I can round together the crew and discuss some things." Alena hugged Alissa tightly, "Thanks again for being here, I don't know what I'd do without a sister like you."

"No problem. Now get out and get talking!"

Alena nodded and faded out of the void, opening her eyes as she came back to reality. The first thing she noticed, was that Placidia had latched onto her arm at some point while asleep, while both Twilight and Vinyl were sort of spread-eagle, with Vinyl's arm under Twilight and Twilight's arm under Vinyl, both snoring away.

Alena didn't try to dislodge her arm from Placidia's grasp without waking her, that would be impossible. She just pulled until her arm came free, which disrupted Placidia's comfort enough that she woke up. "Aaaauuuuu, I was comfy!~ Why'd you wake me uuuup?"

Alena gave Placidia a flat stare, "Because I needed to get up, both to use the bathroom, and to see what I can find out about what happened since we left." Alena got up and walked to the bathroom and shut the door. Moments later, there was the sound of water running from what seemed like a shower. Placidia figured that with nothing better to do, she went over to the computer that was on the desk to turn it on, and sat down as it booted up. All was fine, right up until it actually got to loading the operating system, "What? Xubuntu? I thought that the computer would have Windows on it. Oh well, let's see what's going on around the 'net."

Thirty seconds later, Placidia had wished she never turned on the computer. The text on the page before her put her into a stunned silence from the sheer absurdity of it. One wouldn't have to think very hard about what some of the threads on Reddit had said...

 **House randomly disappears during the night, occupants either missing or dead. Paramilitary company Nocturne arrives on scene and blacks out media coverage.**

 **Extra-terrestrials thought to be responsible for disappearance of home in West Virginia."**

Then there were a few threads that _really caught her eye..._

 **Hacker groups all across the United States put aside differences for joint-effort hacking project, all efforts ineffective against Nocturne's defenses.**

 **Rumors of Nocturne creating advanced weaponry that rivals the U.S. Navy and Marines surface, Commander Marcus Winters waltzes around directly answering questions with surprising grace and elegance.**

Placidia's musings were cut short however, when she heard what sounded like someone singing. The only other person that was awake at the moment though was Alena. "Weird, I never knew Alena sang before..."

The song was peaceful, bringing a calm state to Placidia's very being; Alena's voice was pleasing to hear, like a choir of beautiful bells made of crystal. _'She sounds really lovely, now that I think about it. I wonder why she's never sung even when it was just us hanging around?'_

Not five minutes later, Alena came out of the bathroom, "Holy shit, I needed that shower... Oh, you're on the computer," Alena said as she walked over to Placidia, draped her arms over her shoulders and down her chest, and rested her chin on Placidia's head, "So, what's goin' on around the Interwebs?" Alena got her question answered a moment later, when Placidia went back to the tab that displayed the Reddit front page. Eyes wide, Alena couldn't help but whisper, "Shit! The whole friggin' public knows about our disappearance." Alena moved to Placidia's side and gave her a glare, "Placidia, I need that seat, It's time I called in some favors."

Alena got a curious stare from Placidia, who tilted her head as she did so, _'Damn, that's cute.'_ , "Favors? What've you done aside from those streams?"

"Remember that gaming tournament I entered?"

"Yeah, I thought you lost though..."

"I did, but I _also_ managed to knock out the one person that a guy I talked to was betting against. He asked me to enter and knock out that one person, who everyone else happened to be betting on winning."

Placidia got a shocked look on her face, "What!? But, but that's illegal, isn't it?"

All Placidia got for that question was a flat stare, "Placid, almost _everything_ I've done for income was illegal. Hell, my mom knows, and all she said was that she respected what I did, so long as I didn't get caught. As the old phrase goes, _"I SEE NOSINK, I HEAR NOSINK!"_ I know, bad German accent, but you get the point."

"You're involved with a lot of shady shit, Alena. I'm surprised that _none_ of the agencies have pegged you yet."

"When you're as skilled as I am, you also tend to get very paranoid when it comes to security. Let's just say that I put Esburn from Skyrim to shame."

Placidia couldn't help but laugh at that comment, thinking of Alena as the biggest hermit on that side of the planet. This got Alena to shoot her a playful glare, "And what's so funny? You want to share whatever it is that's funny with the rest of the class?" Alena got her face closer and closer to Placidia's, who was trying her hardest to keep a straight face and failing. Seconds later, Alena's nose connected with Placidia's, and the two stared into each other's eyes. Alena couldn't help but stare into the two pools of grey that seemed absolutely beautiful to her, like an endless ocean that roared with waves higher than any building, yet also seemed calm and serene. Any time Alena looked into them, she couldn't help but feel calm and relaxed, and yet felt a strong conviction to protect her from any harm that may come their way.

Placidia stared into Alena's eyes; a deep, fiery red that seemed to convey the very nature of the person before her - a flame - gentle and warm, giver of light and warmth, yet also dangerous if toyed with. For a second, Placidia could've sworn that she _did_ see a flame dance within Alena's eyes, probably. Normally, if one got to close to a flame, it burned them mercilessly, but this one seemed different. It longed for someone to get closer, so it could give warmth, and also protect from harm. No, it wasn't a flame, but almost a literal burning desire to protect those close, and also signified her love for... something. As she stared, Placidia couldn't help but feel very warm and relaxed, like she was wrapped in a blanket of pure warmth, and felt safe. It was then that she realized that her feelings just might be mutual...

Alena broke Placidia out of her trance however, when she tilted her head up slightly, kissed Placidia on the tip of her nose, and smiled as she backed away. All Placidia could do was bring a hand up to her nose, and stand there with a shocked look on her face, as she stared at her nose. Alena couldn't help but smile at how adorable Placidia looked as she did that.

It was another minute before Alena shattered Placidia's stupor, "So! There's something that I want to talk to you about, but it can wait until tonight. I think you know what it is, but I'm not sure. It _is_ important, though I would like a little more privacy to talk with you about it. We'll do it in a dream, so that no one else can listen in on it, alright?"

All that Placidia could manage to do was nod with a blank look on her face.

"Cool. Oh, can I have that seat for a moment? I need to get into contact with someone that can help us out. I know this guy, Alex, who lives not that far from where we are, actually. He's got our fake I.D. covered."

"He does?"

"Oh, he will. Trust me."

Placidia got out of the comfy desk chair, and sat on the couch that sat in front of a TV; she turned on the TV and flipped over to Netflix, and selected an episode of Weeds. After Placidia was happily seated and watching her show, Alena closed FireFox, and opened a terminal.

 _safeshack271 backbox:~$_

 _safeshack271 backbox:~$ ssh wallflower792_

 _wallflower792 's password:_

 _serverhop993:~ wallflower792$ ssh wallflower664_

 _wallflower664 's password:_

 _serverhop117 :~ wallflower664$ ssh thewallflower_

 _thewallflower 's password:_

 _serverhop215:~ thewallflower$ firefox_

Alena logged into the forum that was run on the isolated server, and posted a thread:

 _"I know you may not be expecting a post from me, as per the situation that has come up recently, but I'm back, and have brought a couple friends along with Placidia and I. I need a favor, however... The four of us all need a place to crash as well as some fake I.D. The safe house that we ended up at isn't as secure as one might think, seeing as all of them are also used by NSA and Nocturne employees as well as those with less legitimate forms of income. The reason that we need fake I.D. is twofold: I'm going to open a bank account under the fake name, and the two that came back with us need to be seen as normal citizens for the time being. Why I'm opening a new bank account, is because both my accounts and Placidia's are most likely being monitored, even though we just suddenly disappeared off the face of the Earth. No, seriously, we did. I'm sure you'll be happy with the location we ended up going to. Shoot me a PM if you can help us out on short notice. Thanks."_

After it was written out, Alena sent out the message, then got up and stretched. "Hey Placid, I think we should wake the other two up. We're going to be heading out in a couple of minutes."

"Alright," Placidia acknowledged as she picked up the remote and turned off the TV. As she looked over at the bed, Placidia couldn't help but smile at how adorable both Twilight and Vinyl were, as they slept nearly on top of each other. Their snores echoed throughout the place, Vinyl's sounded like a buzz saw, whereas Twilight's was a gentle, delicate snore. For just a moment, Placidia wondered if she could get away with snuggling between the two still sleeping ponies-turned-humans...

* * *

Nocturne - a private security force, with stocks invested in telecommunications companies, laboratories, and other miscellaneous corporations. Easily one of the biggest conglomerates in the United States, with ties in almost every country. And now a paramilitary organization that works with the government, due to a 157 to 3 Congress vote in favor of Nocturne dissolving the NSA into its rankings, and taking over their operations.

Marcus Winters, commander of Nocturne, walked over to the railing that overlooked the Analyst Pit. Sure, they have a computer that is used to comb through the data, with double redundant filters, but their contract had come with a clause which stated that they had to have humans checking all the data that went through their lines as well. Marcus leaned on the railing with his arms crossed, "Come on guys, give me something good! I want to find them before either the Feds or a terrorist organization get to them." He was about to say more, when the music that was in the background got louder, and louder. Finally, Marcus snapped.

"Steve! What the hell did I tell you not three hours ago!? I'm not some manipulative bastard that hates all of mankind. Either wear headphones, or just don't play that song when I come through the doors! Turn that shit off!"

The music abruptly stopped, followed by a, "Sorry, sir! Won't happen again."

Marcus just sighed and shook his head. His thoughts were interrupted, however. "Commander, we've got something interesting. I think you might want to look at this." Marcus' attention was drawn to the giant screen at the forefront of the Analyst Pit, when a window popped up and showed sporadic connections across the country, until it stopped at a data center in Atlanta.

"What's so interesting about those connections? They're routed through the different servers that were set up as VPN's for the safe houses that we ' _never found_ '. That last connection is the localized message board, right? What's so special about this one route of connections?"

"That route was flagged, because someone logged into the one username that we put on our filter list. It's The Wallflower."

If one were to walk into the large operations room at that moment, they would need a light sabre to cut through the tension which settled upon everyone present.

"She's back, and it would be wrong to assume she came back alone," Marcus stood up straight, his boots somehow echoed throughout the whole floor, "LISTEN UP! Ayane, I want you out from that desk and over to the armory for prep five minutes ago! Steve, Bob! You two are on comms! Allen, get off of Minecraft and connect to that forum; find out what was posted, and relay the information to Steve or Bob." Marcus shot his left hand up to his forehead in a salute, "WE ARE NOCTURNE!"

The mass of analysts responded in unison, "SECURITY AND SAFETY ABOVE ALL ELSE!"

Marcus exited the operations room, and headed down the hall towards the elevator, up to the armory. The elevator doors opened to reveal Ayane, decked out in experimental tactical gear. Her short stature at 4'9", with her pink hair and eyes, made her almost too adorable, despite being in black shorts with similarly colored combat boots and tank top. Two utility belts hung loosely off her waist in opposite directions, holding extra rounds for the urban blue camo SCAR-L strapped on her back. Marcus idly wondered when R&D finished the SRH*, since they said that it was still in intermediary testing until further notice. The lack of kevlar however was made up for in spades by the KFD* that was approved for special use two months ago. He still wondered why they had chosen to house the device in a belt...

Marcus gave Ayane a glare that could level the rest of Rome, "Ayane, this is a low-risk mission. We're going in to collect two or more persons of interest, not into the middle of a gang war."

His glare, however, was returned in full force, "You once said that it's better to have and not need, than to need and not have. What we're about to deal with is so far out from left field, that we have absolutely _no_ idea what could go down. We usually have _way_ more intel before we go out on operations, so excuse me for being cautious."

It was a long two seconds before Marcus replied, "Fine, but you're using non-lethal rounds, as per protocol 512. Empty that clip, and refit your belt rounds. I'm not going to be responsible for an inter-universal incident because my second-in-command decided to sneak live rounds."

If looks could kill, the one Ayane was giving Marcus could've blown up the world. Twice.


	9. Nocturne-al Issues

Ayane and Marcus sat in the car as he drove, down the long stretch of highway that lay before them. Ayane was fast asleep in her sleep, snoring softly as the moonlight illuminated her face which glowed with an air of adorableness not often seen. Marcus yawned and reached for another can of Monster, which happened to be his third in the past two hours. The roads were empty, which was weird for it being 11:30 at night, though Marcus didn't really care all that much. The radio played a song which he couldn't help but whistle to, knowing full well that Ayane was an insanely heavy sleeper. The universe seemed to have retained its sense of humor however, as another couple had turned on the radio at that same exact moment...

* * *

Alena and Placidia sat on top of the bright yellow Honda Civic the four of them had piled into earlier that day, got some doctored I.D. from a friend that lived close by, and done some other things. They were currently parked in front of a motel with some pretty decent rooms, the two just stared at the stars in the night sky. Suddenly, Alena turned to look at Placidia, with a look that just screamed she wanted to say something.

"Hey, Placid... I know that I said that I was going to talk to you about something important within a dream, but I felt it couldn't really wait." The atmosphere and mood of the conversation had been set by the song, and even more than likely, instigated by it as well, "Placidia, we've been through quite a lot, visiting Equestria and bringing back Princess Twilight and Vinyl notwithstanding. You've helped me through quite a bit during my life, and undoubtedly I've done the same for you. We've grown so comfortable around each other that sleeping nude next to each other doesn't bother us in the slightest. Whenever I'm near you, I feel this desire to keep you away from all harm, no matter the cost. I look into your eyes, and I see both a raging sea of emotion and a calm ocean that gently sways my heart back and forth, and makes me calmer than I've ever been. I feel like I can actually relax within your presence, and be more than just myself when I'm with you.

"I know we've playfully flirted back and forth before with no real meaning behind it, but the more I've thought about it, the more everything just made sense. We ever so slowly fell for each other that we didn't even notice it. That time I got sick, you came over to my house and stayed by my side, quite literally, until I got better. Not even my mom yelling at you to let her take care of me quite a few times got you to leave. That time I got so angry at someone that I literally passed out from anger and exhaustion, you were there for me again, and made sure that I was alright. Placidia, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I never want it to end. I've got a question for you, though now it seems fairly obvious: Serenity Placidia Shores, would you do me the honors of being my girlfriend?"

Placidia just sat there on the hood of the car, completely dumbstruck. If one were to look over at her at that specific moment, they would probably swear that for the briefest of moments, they saw a BSOD display through the eyes of Placidia. She just didn't know what to do. Sure, she had been considering talking with Alena about it and asking herself, but she wasn't expecting her to say yes, let alone _Alena reversing roles and asking her instead!_ Eventually, Placidia got out of her stupefied trance long enough to consider what was just asked of her. Nothing much would really change, aside from the two having the titles of being each others girlfriend, but it was that thought alone which brought her extreme levels of comfort. She suddenly realized that she wouldn't be all that lonely anymore, because she just knew that Alena would do almost literally anything within her power to keep her safe and by her side.

After a mental nod to herself, Placidia answered. Not with words, however, but instead she grabbed Alena's shoulders gently, and planted her lips softly on Alena's own. The two stayed like that for a minute or so, just enjoying the sensation of sharing an intimate kiss between them without the deafening roar of college boys cheering that they got to see two best friends make out while drunk. The two relaxed into the kiss, and Alena got and impulsive idea. She backed away from the kiss slightly, and then came back to it, focusing on Placidia's bottom lip, giving a subtle and gentle bite on it.

Placidia responded in kind, and the two slowly deepened the kiss, the both of them poking slightly into the other's mouth with their tongue, exploring as if they were giants walking around a city built from cardboard. It was both familiar, yet different to the both of them, the feeling of sharing an intimate moment such as this, without having to worry about onlookers making comments or snapping photos. The two of them kept kissing for a few moments, until Placidia moved back and pulled Alena into a tight yet gentle hug, softly crying. Alena got worried, until she heard what Placidia had to say.

"Alena, I have something to confess, but it is probably very obvious now due to my actions. I have fallen for you as well; whenever I look into your eyes, I see a burning flame which does not burn, but protect all within its reach. Whenever I'm near you, I feel warm and safe, like nothing can get to me. I can also see that you will do anything to protect those around you, no matter the cost.

"All of this made me realize something: we were both silly, thinking that the other wouldn't accept what we felt, and just kept it to ourselves. It just feels awesome knowing that the whole time, we both cared far more for each other than we realized, and that it turned out the way it did. I love you, Alena, and that will never change. I'm not going to say that I want to marry you in the future, because for one thing, we don't even know how long things will last. It might last for a month, a year, decade, or just a day. For now though, I just want to stay by your side. Do you think you could let me have that one selfish request?"

Alena held Placidia tighter, "Yeah, I can and I will, with absolutely no hesitation. Hell, even if you hadn't, I would've asked you the same thing. I love you Placidia, and I don't want to lose you as either lover or friend. You're way too special to me to stand losing."

The pair just sat on the hood of the Civic and held each other, way late into the night, with only the beautiful night sky and themselves as company. It was another couple of hours into the night when they finally retired to the motel room, where they flopped onto the bed next to Twilight and Vinyl, and held each other in their arms as they slept; they both fell asleep with smiles on their faces.

* * *

Eventually, the long drive had paid off; Marcus had called the Texus branch of Nocturne while en route to the last known location of Alena and gang, after it was pointed out that she had arranged to get their new I.D. from someone in Austin. Due to how far away they were at that time however, Marcus had ordered the team that was ready to be deployed to remain on standby until such time that they could move in without disrupting the goings on of the general population. That is how things came to be at the current moment in time, where Marcus had sat in his car with Ayane _still passed out_ , waiting for Alena and Placidia to return to their room. Sure, he could've ordered the troops to move in while they were outside, but then there was the potential for however many people they brought back to retaliate. He needed to wait for them to re-enter the room, so they could bring all of them in at once.

It wasn't Marcus' idea however to operate this mission as he was. He knew full well exactly who and what the Noels were, as his own family shared their history. The reason he had to handle this like any other operation however, was due to the government keeping a representative from Homeland Security on his team for this operation. That meant that he couldn't just stroll in and casually ask Alena and company about Equestria; Marcus idly wondered why the government was so afraid of magic that they had renditioned Julia Noel's husband. Marcus shook his head; he couldn't let himself get distracted at this moment, he had a job to do.

In an attempt to wake her up, Marcus punched Ayane in the arm, hard. He knew that she had taken off the KFD during the ride, as he had pointed out that they were supposed to meet up with a rep from HomeSec before carrying out the mission to capture and interrogate Alena and whoever else was with her. Originally, it was to go and pick up Alena before the rest of the authoritative branches of the government caught wind of her return, but it had slipped through the cracks that she was back, and with friends. Nocturne's mission immediately turned to damage control... Both for their sake, and Alena's.

Ayane got up with a start, and looked to Marcus. All he did was gesture his hand towards the room that Alena and company currently resided in, and got out of the car. With a hand up to his ear, Marcus contacted the rest of the team, "Alright guys, this is the procedure: Jenkins, I want you to throw up a Faraday cage around the section the room is at. Davis, Rob, you two are at the back door, be ready in case they come through there and try to escape. Objective is to hold them until they're able to be transported, do not injure them. Alice, you're on point on the Burger King across the road facing the front door, tranq rounds only, semi-auto sniper, call-sign is Rapier One, order is Dart. Ayane, you're with me on the front door; Jenkins, that cage goes up the moment we breach, got it? Good, let's move!"

The soldiers moved with an excessive pace, and yet made very little noise; Marcus internally swelled with pride that the teachings of old could still be applied in modern day circumstances. He and Ayane moved up to the door quietly, and stood ready as he waited for everyone else to get into position. It was a few more seconds, before Alice came in on the radio, "Rapier One, in position. I got my eyes on you, boss, clear as day."

It was then that Marcus noticed the laser that wasn't there before, "Rapier One, turn off the laser guide and switch to infra-red. Davis, Rob, you in position?"

An immediate response was heard, "Aye, sir! We're in position, ready to breach at your signal."

Marcus took a series of breaths, and then opened his comm, "Breaching in three, two, one, GO!"

Both the front and back doors burst open in unison, and the four Nocturne personnel rushed in and startled everyone awake, "UP AND AT 'EM, LET'S GO LET'S GO LET'S GO!"

Placidia shot up from the bed and screamed, Twilight and Vinyl both showed fear on their faces, whereas Alena merely showed pure annoyance, which to everyone that was suddenly awakened, was quite odd. Placidia, Twilight, and Vinyl's panic levels rose when they all moved in and bound their wrists together with zip ties. Alena _still_ wasn't amused.

"Alright Jenkins, you can move the fence away from the door, we're coming out. Everyone's zipped and ready to go."

As they were moved out, Alena cleared her throat to catch Marcus' attention, and said in a monotone voice, "Don't forget our bags, our only clean clothes are in there, along with the only cash we got."

Marcus didn't even hesitate, "Jenkins, go in and grab the bags, put them in the back of my car. _Do not_ just toss them in."

"Aye, sir."

The four girls were escorted out of the room and into the waiting black Navigator outside. As the lights in the street and parking lot gave her a better view, Alena was _even less_ amused, if that was even possible, when she saw who was escorting her to Marcus' car, "Ayane, is this revenge for me beating your ass when you went too far while picking on Placidia? Cause last time I checked, it was more than justified."

All attention turned to the HomeSec Representative who had begun slow clapping, "So, we finally get to meet the two people responsible for causing such an uproar in West Virginia, _and_ we finally get to put a face to the name of the infamous Wallflower. You have a rap sheet so long, that I could use it as toilet paper every day for five years." Lance turned to Marcus, "Thank you for capturing her, as well as her cohorts. Homeland will be immensely pleased to hear that we can finally bring in these two, and their two friends that came with from wherever they were."

Now, it was Marcus' turn to not be very amused, "I'm afraid not; these four are headed back to base for interrogation, and then they're all to report to the one who requested their safe return, these two unknowns included."

The Homeland Security rep angrily pointed a finger at Marcus, "This isn't over! I will find out what's going on, and have you tried for treason!"

"Last time I checked, any and all _"outside visitors"_ are to be reported directly to the President, which is what will be done, as soon as we have finished interrogations. Good day to you, sir."

"Listen here-"

"I SAID, GOOD DAY TO YOU, SIR!" Marcus turned around and headed back to his van before the HomeSec guy could get another comment in. Those who were part of the Austin branch of Nocturne went back to their vehicles, while Alena, Placidia, Twilight, and Vinyl piled into the back seat of the car that awaited them. Marcus drove away from the motel, and straight to the highway; as he drove, Ayane pulled out a phone from a pocket, and called. Everyone could hear the person on the other side, due to Ayane having the phone on speaker.

 _"Hey, thought we'd get a call way sooner! What took you guys so long?"_

Marcus shot a reply, "Apparently, Homeland Security thought what we were up to was interesting enough for them to warrant a visit. I couldn't really just stroll on up and say "Hi" to someone who just jumped through the very fabric of space and ended up in another world with someone from HomoSec standing by to catch anything. You'd think that since we annexed the NSA, that the other agencies would take us seriously for a change."

 _"Maybe they just take you guys a little too seriously, and they're just being cautious."_

"Whatever, just tell Austin International to be expecting us, _and to turn out their lights. We were never there._ "

There was a noise from the phone, indicating someone just unmuted themselves, "Got it, we see nothing, we hear nothing. This conversation didn't happen. FAA clearing space for you now, path for your flight is now considered a no-fly zone at a diameter of fifteen-thousand feet on all sides. All aircraft inconspicuously re-routed to avoid you once you take off."

Twilight and Placidia sat there in shock, while Alena and Vinyl took what happened in stride; Twilight voiced her opinion on the matter, however, "Wait, isn't what just happened illegal?"

Marcus laughed along with Vinyl and Alena, "Oh please, every government agency around the world does it, and before you comment, it isn't corruption. Sometimes, things need to get done, regardless of public opinion. It also helps when the government is ready to jump to our defense whenever someone gets a little too nosy."

Placidia tossed in her own comment, "So, your military company is the biggest example of abusing your power. Why haven't you guys been outed for it yet?"

Alena cut in before Marcus could give her an answer and smirked, "Because the President slipped in a bill that granted Nocturne what is equivalent to a free pass to do almost whatever they please. That bill just _flew_ through the Senate, and _every single person_ on Nocturne's payroll was sick that week. It still amazes me how much trust the Senate trusts the current President. It's like they're all his bitch."

Twilight's eyes went wide, "That cannot be right! That's like giving the nobles back home the power to assault those that aren't as wealthy as them without consequence!"

"It may not be right Twily, but it's how things are. The fact that Nocturne only uses it when it comes to things that _really_ need to be kept secret, says volumes about Marcus' character. All operations are passed to him before they get the go-ahead," Ayane confided.

Twilight's face scrunched up, "How do you know my name? I don't remember giving it to you."

Alena facepalmed, "I just _knew_ I was missing something when I talked to you about our world... Twilight, you've heard Luna speak of my family as if they had history, and she outright stated that they helped with the creation of the Tree of Harmony. The only other family that could ever possibly know of Equestria at this point, is the Winters family. How everyone else knows of Equestria, is a different story, however..."

Twilight sighed as Vinyl could barely contain her snickers, and finally burst, "Oh! Oh, this is so priceless! Ha ha ha, to see that confused look on your face, Twilight, I know a few individuals who would make me rich if I had even a single picture!"

Alena rolled her eyes, "Well, no time like the present to give you an existential crisis, right?" Twilight looked even more confused, "Twilight, in our world, there exists a... let's call it, a family-oriented cartoon. This cartoon depicts the lives of a very powerful magic user, her five friends, and the adventures they end up in as they live their lives. That magic user is you, Twilight, and your friends are the other five people that are the mane cast. Now, there was an article that came about a couple days before the show officially aired which really tore apart almost every single thing that the person could grab at, one of those things happened to be Rainbow Dash's orientation. Somehow, the article got posted to a popular and yet controversial image posting board, and people saw it. When a couple of people came across it, they decided to watch the show to see if the article held true, and ended up liking the show.

"One by one, more and more people got into it, and it spread from just that site, to all over the Internet in just a few short months. Then it almost literally exploded over the next couple of years. Sure, things have calmed down now, but make no mistake Twilight; you, your friends, their friends and relatives, the Princesses, Vinyl, Octavia, and almost everypony is famous to some degree. My only regret is that I didn't negotiate with Luna to come as well. People would have quite literally worshiped the ground she trot upon."

Twilight's mouth just hung open for a few moments, as Vinyl started outright guffawing in the seat between Twilight and Alena. Placidia ended up on the other side of Twilight, much to her dismay.

"Yeah, it may be funny to you, but wait until the inevitable reunion of Luna and the Winters family. Shit hitting the fan will be a _drastic_ understatement," was put forth by Marcus.

Alena tilted her head, "What are you talking about?"

"Where do you think we got the name ' _Nocturne_ ' from, when it was named? Think about that for just a moment..."

Twilight's jaw was about to meet the floor of the car, whereas Vinyl just stared out at nothing in particular. This, however, irked Twilight when she got out of her moment of shock, "Wait a second! You're saying that the Winters family, as a whole, are or at least were, either descendants of Princess Luna, or her Royal Guards?"

"That's about the gist of things. A group of us were turned into Humans and sent watch over things here. The Noels know of us, and we know of them. It's a mutual understanding of 'Don't rat us out and we won't rat you out' sort of thing."

The silence that followed was broken by Marcus, "Okay a couple things: One, we've arrived at the airport, and two, we're headed to South Carolina. Alena, shut up, I have a phone call to make before we go in."

The phone rang for a moment, before someone both Alena and Placidia recognized very readily, _"So, by you calling me on this line means that you've found my daughter and her friend?"_

Marcus replied to Julia, "Yeah, I personally headed the operation to retrieve not only her and Placidia, but two others that have come with them. I don't know how you will take this, but one of them is _Celestia's Protege._ Make of that what you will."

There was a long silence, before, _"Alright, Marcus, you may train my daughter like you wanted, but only if she agrees to it. And you must not treat her like she's some kind of super weapon like the other government agencies would."_

"Oh, she will be treated fairly, as I will personally oversee her one month of training with us."

Julia breathed a sigh of relief, _"You don't know how happy it makes me feel to hear that you'll be looking after her. I know that she's a Noel, but she's still my baby. I love you Alena, I'll see you shortly."_

The line was disconnected before Alena could question what happened, "Wait, how did she know that I was in the car with you?"

"Your mother and I were close friends, and the Winters and Noels were always friendly with each other for ages. She knows that I'm not dumb enough to let you go with anyone else but me. You're the first true Noel to be born in fifty years, there's no way I'd let any other government agency get their grubby little hands on you. Speaking of, you will be personally trained and tested by me, and will become a member of Nocturne. You will hold the same position as Ayane, and work with her, not for her," Marcus gave a knowing look to Ayane, "Right?"

Ayane gave Marcus a stare, "So long as she doesn't try anything towards you, I have no problems with her." She turned her gaze on Alena, "Don't you dare try _anything_ with Marcus!"

Alena raised her hands up in a defensive stance, "Hey, hey, I wouldn't try anything with him, even if I wasn't in a relationship with Placidia." Marcus could've sworn he felt a steel pole punch right through his heart, though he didn't let it show. 'Owie.'

Twilight and Vinyl both shared a look; Twilight looked confused, and Vinyl had the most perverted grin anyone had ever seen, "Well, that's a piece of news worth sharing. When did this happen?"

Placidia grabbed onto Alena's arm and pulled her over onto her lap. Alena had to undo her seat belt, before her arm got torn out from its socket. As soon as Alena was safe on Placidia's lap, she wrapped her arms around Alena's body as if protecting her. Alena didn't mind, and answered the question, "This kinda happened when you two were in bed, and we stayed out and looked out at the night sky as we sat on the car."

Vinyl's grin turned even more lecherous, as if it were possible, "Did you two seal it with a kiss?"

Alena said nothing, as she turned around on Placidia's lap and straddled her legs. As she brought a hand up to Placidia's cheek and gently held it, Alena moved in and started to passionately kiss Placidia. The two kissed for a minute as Twilight looked on in shock and a little curiosity, Vinyl seemed highly amused, Marcus mentally scratched an item off of his bucket list, and Ayane stayed neutral. After the kiss was broken off, Alena booped Placidia's nose, "I'm yours forever, don't forget that. Even if I have to walk straight into hell, and blow everything up just to get to you and bring you home, I will do so without hesitation." When Placidia looked into Alena's eyes, she could've sworn she briefly saw a flame burning brightly within.

Marcus broke up the party shortly after the impromptu show, "Come on, people, we got ourselves a helicopter to catch."


End file.
